St Helens 19 – 12 Salford

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Jon Bennison grabbed the crucial try for St Helens in their semi-final win over Salford

Jon Bennison’s try in the final 10 minutes broke Salford Red Devils’ hearts and sent St Helens into a fourth-consecutive Betfred Super League Grand Final with a 19-12 win.

Joe Batchelor’s two converted tries and a drop goal from Jonny Lomax had St Helens 13-6 up at half time in the semi-final at Totally Wicked Stadium, despite having to see out a period with Morgan Knowles in the sin bin.

It was during that time Kallum Watkins crossed for the Red Devils to ensure they remained within touching distance at the break, and their stoic defensive efforts were rewarded on the hour mark when Ryan Brierley finished a scintillating counter-attack to make it game on.

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Bennison then pounced on a Lomax kick in the 70th minute to restore St Helens’ lead and it proved enough to give them victory, although the Red Devils may feel aggrieved they were not awarded a penalty try with five minutes to go when Tim Lafai was pulled back, with referee Chris Kendall opting only for a penalty and a yellow card to Tommy Makinson.

Story of the game

Saints will be looking to complete an unprecedented fourth successive Grand Final victory when they face Leeds Rhinos, 20-8 victors over Wigan Warriors in Friday’s semi-final, in a repeat of the 2011 decider which Leeds won 32-16.

Kristian Woolf will be especially delighted with the way his side overcame the loss of England front rower Alex Walmsley, with Agnatius Paasi and Matty Lees stepping up to the plate magnificently to offset his considerable absence.

Already without Man of Steel contender Brodie Croft, Salford were dealt another desperately unlucky blow after only two minutes when Andy Ackers was forced out of the action after an ill-timed tackle on full-back Bennison which left him reeling.

St Helens were without Alex Walmsley after the prop suffered a season-ending injury, with Agnatius Paasi replacing him. Mark Percival made his first appearance for four months after recovering from injury and there was a return to the team for Sione Mata’utia too.

Salford were without Man of Steel nominee Brodie Croft after he failed a head injury assessment in the previous week’s Eliminator victory over Huddersfield Giants. Chris Atkin came into the side to partner Marc Sneyd in the halves.

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Joe Batchelor goes over to give St Helens the lead against Salford Red Devils.

Although the Red Devils had a specialist replacement in Amir Bourouh, they sorely missed the elusive running of their first-choice hooker.

Batchelor had already forced his way into England boss Shaun Wane’s Rugby League World Cup plans and he provided a timely reminder of his impressive form with the opening try, grounding Jonny Lomax’s grubber kick after going preciously close to opening the scoring in similar fashion four minutes earlier.

Lomax was also the provider four minutes later, this time with a sweetly-executed short pass, to get the former York City Knights man over for his second try and he went close to completing a hat-trick as he pursued Jack Welsby’s grubber kick.

Makinson converted both tries for a 12-0 lead but Salford were given a helping hand on 23 minutes when loose forward Knowles went too far with a dangerous tackle on Chris Atkin and was sent to the sin bin.

St Helens: Tries – Joe Batchelor (2), Jon Bennison; Goals – Tommy Makinson (3); Drop goal – Jonny Lomax.

Salford Red Devils: Tries – Kallum Watkins, Ryan Brierley; Goals – Marc Sneyd (2).

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Joe Burgess’ break and Ryan Brierley’s finish got Salford Red Devils back in the contest against St Helens.

Atkin was also on the end of a crunching, albeit legal, tackle from Welsby as Saints maintained their aggressive defence in a bid to close down Salford’s danger men.

The Red Devils took advantage of the extra man as Watkins, a six-time Grand Final winner with Leeds enjoying a new lease of life following his switch to the second row, went through a gap for a try, which Marc Sneyd converted.

Makinson was wide with a long-range penalty attempt but Lomax put two scores between the teams with a drop goal on the stroke of half-time, when Saints led 13-6.

The champions had a try disallowed early in the second half when Mr Kendall ruled a double movement against Lees and that gave Salford all the encouragement they needed. Slick handling then got winger Joe Burgess into space and full-back Brierley finished off with his 12th try of the campaign.

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Jon Bennison claimed the all-important try for St Helens against Salford Red Devils.

Sneyd’s second goal brought the visitors to within a point and skipper Elijah Taylor thought he had put them in front on 65 minutes only to have a try disallowed for an obstruction in the build-up.

It proved to be Salford’s last hope as Saints came up with the decisive score, with a helping hand from Watkins after his careless offload gifted them possession 30 metres out. Player of the match Lomax was once again instrumental with a clever kick which created the all-important try from Bennison.

Makinson’s third goal made it 19-12 but there was another dramatic twist when the England winger was sin-binned five minutes from the end for obstructing Salford centre Lafai’s chase for the ball.

The 3,500 Salford fans screamed for a penalty try but Paul Rowley’s men had to settle for a penalty and 12-man Saints were able to defend their line and see out the victory.

What they said

St Helens head coach Kristian Woolf

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St Helens head coach Kristian Woolf says he’s not worried about the fairy tale of guiding St Helens to four Super League eague titles in a row.

“I’m not worried about the fairy-tale. They’re an outstanding group, they’ve shown how much they were willing to fight all year and they had to fight today.

“I’ve got to give Salford a lot of credit – they play a hell of a game of footy and made it really tough.

“We’re going to enjoy the week. This is why you play footy, you want to be in these games and this atmosphere and we get the opportunity to do that again next week in front of a bigger crowd and on a bigger stage – and we can’t wait.”

Salford Red Devils head coach Paul Rowley

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Salford Red Devils coach Paul Rowley says although he’s grateful the team reached the semi-finals, it’s tough falling at the last hurdle.

“The simple answer is yes [Salford should have been awarded a penalty try], but it’s been and gone.

“It’s hard to think ‘we’ve had a good year’ because it was about today for us and we keep it black and white. It’s about winning and losing and today we lost, and credit to St Helens, they were deserving victors.

“It’s been a good journey, but I’m really sad it has ended today.”

What’s next?

St Helens now return to Old Trafford for the fourth year in a row where they will face Leeds on Saturday, September 24 live on Sky Sports to decide the destiny of the 2022 Super League title (6pm kick-off).

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