St Helens book Grand Final date
St Helens booked their sixth consecutive Super League Grand Final after defeating bitter rivals Wigan Warriors 26-18 this evening at The Stobart Stadium.
It was Wigan who opened the scoring with Pat Richards by slotting over a two point penalty after Saints weren’t square at the play of the ball.
The Warriors then extended their lead on the 10 minute mark with an unconverted try thanks to Jamie Foster‘s failure to deal with a Thomas Leuluai kick which allowed Josh Charnley pick it up and touched down.
Saints hit back on the 23rd minute when the ball was spread out to Lee Gaskell who took on the line to break through and touch down. Foster successful with the boot to level the scores at 6-6.
Foster gave Saints the lead when he added two points minutes after the Warriors were caught offside close to their own line.
Wigan regained their on the half hour mark when Eamon O’Carroll crashed over from short range on the last tackle. Richards adding the extras which proved to be the last points of the half which left it at 12-8 to Wigan at the break.
Saints started the second half the brighter when they took full advantage of a George Carmont knock on. From the resulting set, James Roby kicked through and Paul Wellens collected to touch down for his 200th try for the Saints. Foster added the two points to put Saints back in the lead at 14-12.
When Liam Farrell was penalised for not standing square, Saints opted to take the two points which Foster converted.
St Helens extended their lead further on 56 minutes when Foster dived over in the corner after collecting a cutting pass from John Wilkin. The winger missing the conversion from the touch line.
On the 74th minute, Roby ensure St Helens booked their place at Old Trafford when he burrowed his way over from dummy half from 10 yards out, Foster adding the extras.
Wigan did get a late consolation score through Sam Tomkins, but it wasn’t enough to deny St Helens a sixth consecutive Grand Final appearance with a final score of 26-18 to Saints.
St Helens will now face the Leeds Rhinos at Old Trafford next Saturday evening in the Engage Super League Grand Final, where they will hope to lift the trophy for the first time since 2006.