Lethal Leeds do it the hard way as Saints are denied once again

Throw in a truly remarkable display of sustained defensive courage, a dazzling man-of-the-match offering and the fact that a title was achieved from the unprecedented league position of fifth, and it is easy to see why Leeds Rhinos’ fabulous victory has left even their fiercest critics speechless.

Maybe record-breaking Kevin Sinfield and his resilient cohorts should be put in charge of plotting the UK’s economic recovery too. It seems they simply do not see any challenge as too big.

Trailing 16-8 with just 16 minutes remaining of an epic occasion at Old Trafford, it looked like brave Leeds’s hopes of making history would be dashed and St Helens, who had painfully lost the previous four finals, would at last savour some richly-deserved success.

During a ferocious encounter, played in the customary Grand Final rain, obdurate Saints had edged themselves into a winning position and appeared to have drained the life out of opponents who had been forced to desperately defend their line continually for the opening 10 minutes of the second period.

An eight-point margin was ordinarily not much to cling on to but Brian McDermott’s men could surely have no reserves remaining to overturn the deficit.

Having defeated Hull FC, Huddersfield Giants and the minor champions Warrington in a bruising battle during an unlikely play-off sequence, surely this would be where Leeds’s heroic challenge would finally catch up with them.

However, despite all their doubters, they are a club who had won three of the last four titles and with such a record comes a veritable pedigree, nous and no little experience – a fact lost on many, this correspondent included.

Brent Webb has played in two of those triumphs and so knew just when to attack the Saints’ line in the 64th minute.

Danny Buderus’s smart blindside pass gave the Kiwi the opportunity from 10m out and he spotted Andrew Dixon’s weariness, dummying and then holding off the replacement’s tackle to stretch over. Sinfield, captaining a Grand Final side on a record sixth occasion, slotted the kick and had no hesitation again soon after when Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook – a talented young man but experiencing his first game at Old Trafford – foolishly ripped possession from Ali Lauitiiti in a two-man tackle. That was the first sign of Saints’ nerves showing.

In contrast, Sinfield showed none as he nailed the penalty to draw level and set up a pulsating finish. Both Leeds and Saints had been here before – minutes to go in the Grand Final with everything still up for grabs.

But whereas Leeds were able to draw on their positive memories of past glories, the Saints players seemed to freeze, the fear of yet another failure clearly taking hold – their negative experiences seeping back into view to cloud their judgment once more.

Harry Sunderland Trophy winner Rob Burrow had terrorised them before in 2007. Here he was again, having already scored a truly outstanding first-half try, running at their drained bodies with all the zip and balance of a ballerina.

As he sped into open space, it seemed there may be enough cover to extinguish his threat but a sublime dummy suddenly left Saints exposed further and there was no stopping Ryan Hall who finished off a glorious try.

Sinfield could not convert but the momentum had irretrievably shifted and, when Carl Ablett muscled his way over from close range following another excellent delivery from Buderus, the die was cast.

Lee Gaskell, the young Saints stand-off whose brilliant kicking and running had done so much to put his side in the ascendancy, tried to chip over in the final seconds but only found the hands of Zak Hardaker, the Leeds teenager then scorching 45 metres to confirm the most stunning of victories for his side.

While it had been built on the experience and guile of such seasoned Grand Final performers as Sinfield, Burrow and an unflinching Jamie Jones-Buchanan, who have each played in all five successes, plus the remarkable Jamie Peacock in his record-equalling ninth final appearance, the Rhinos youngsters were similarly prevalent.

Centre Hardaker, who played in last year’s Championship Grand Final with Featherstone Rovers, was a rock defensively as was fellow rookie Chris Clarkson.

Crestfallen Saints, meanwhile, never recovered from the loss of captain Paul Wellens to an Achilles injury, nor that of centre Michael Shenton who departed with a dislocated elbow shortly after the England centre had put them ahead in the 55th minute.

Two penalties by James Foster further extended their lead but it would not be enough and even talisman James Graham was left helpless in his final game before joining Canterbury Bulldogs as Leeds dug deep to defeat them for a fourth time in five years.

The first half had been an attritional yet compelling affair as both sides ignored the incessant rain to display great confidence in their skills.

Foster and Sinfield had exchanged penalties to leave it deadlocked at 2-2 until Burrow’s brilliance broke Saints in the 34th minute.

Skipping away from a clutch of defenders, the replacement showed all his flair to beat the first line and then produced a mesmerising side-step to leave Wellens rooted to the turf before shooting away between the posts for a try which made Jason Robinson’s reminiscent score in 1998 look relatively mundane.

Sinfield’s conversion sent his side in 8-2 ahead at the break but they endured a torturous start to the second period when Ben Jones-Bishop made a hash of the kick-off and Leeds were made to defend five successive sets after conceding four drop-outs in almost as many minutes.

Somehow, scrambling and battling, they repelled everything Saints threw at them and escaped for long enough to see Sinfield go just wide with a drop-goal.

But then Tom Makinson showed great dexterity to reach his own kick and score as Webb tried to let the ball roll dead and, when Jones-Bishop dropped a hanging Jonny Lomax kick, Saints struck through Shenton following a quality set scrum move.

A Gaskell 40/20 increased the pressure as Foster profited with those two penalties but anyone thinking this Leeds side were finished was wrong... again.

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