A hat-trick of tries from teenage winger Ash Handley helped Leeds to a handsome 41-16 win over reigning champions St Helens that takes them six points clear at the top of Super League . The 19-year-old Handley got his big chance due to an injury to England winger Tom Briscoe and how he has seized it , with six tries in just six Super League appearances . The Rhinos simply oozed confidence on the back of their five-match winning run while Saints looked fragile as the one-time leaders crashed to a fourth defeat in their last five matches . Leeds veteran Danny McGuire crossed for one of his side 's seven tries against St Helens on Friday night . Leeds have now played every other team in Super League and , with just one defeat in their opening 11 matches , will take some stopping as they eye a first league-leaders ' title for six years . Handley 's first try came against the run of play as he plucked out of the air Josh Jones ' pass intended for debutant winger Matty Fleming of the air and sprinted 90 metres to the other end of the pitch . Handling errors by Mark Flanagan and Adam Swift ensured Saints remained on the back foot and they fell further behind on 15 minutes when hugely-impressive prop Adam Cuthbertson kept the ball alive on the last tackle and centre Joel Moon produced a delightful one-handed pass out of the back of his hands to get Handley over again . Stand-off Liam Sutclife , preferred to skipper Kevin Sinfield in Leeds ' starting team , justified his selection with a superb break to create a try for full-back Zak Hardaker and his third conversion made it 18-0 in as many minutes . It got even better for the visitors when makeshift centre Carl Ablett split open the Saints defence to get veteran half-back Danny McGuire sprinting over from halfway for a fourth try and this time Sinfield , starting as a substitute for the first time for nearly 12 years , added the goal . Inspired by the never-say-die efforts of England hooker James Roby , St Helens produced their best spell of the match and pulled a try back in fortuitous circumstances when full-back Tom Makinson touched down Jon Wilkin 's kick when for all it looked like a knock-on and Travis Burns added the goal . That score suddenly brought the game to life but the Rhinos struck a devastating blow to the champions deep into first-half stoppage time when a break out of defence by Kallum Watkins created the position for Sutcliffe to gift-wrap a third try for Handley courtesy of a pin-point kick to the corner . At 28-6 , it looked a hopeless task for the home side but the belated introduction of Australian scrum-half Luke Walsh added a new dimension to their attack and , within four minutes of the restart , he produced a jinking run through the heart of the Leeds defence to create a try for Jordan Turner . The champions were fired up by the score and props Alex Walmsley and Mose Masoe were both held up over the line as they sought to further close the gap . The pressure finally paid off on the hour when Walsh 's high kick bounced kindly for Turner to score his second try and Burns ' second conversion cut the gap to 12 points . But the comeback was snuffed on 66 minutes when another Cuthbertson offload caused havoc in the Saints defence and Sinfield sent Sutcliffe on a jinking run to the line for the match-winning try . Siinfield put over a drop goal and wrapped up the scoring by converting Moon 's last-minute try .
Ash Handley has now scored six tries in six appearances for Rhinos . The Leeds are now six points clear at the top of Super League . Rhinos have lost just once in their opening 11 matches .