THE trophy presentation was somewhat delayed . . . by 55 years, actually! And the man responsible for that long wait was a certain Adolf Hitler who, back in 1945, had just come to a grisly end in his bunker.

Metal had been in desperately short supply, most of it having gone into the second world war effort, when the all-conquering Grange Park School Rugby League team triumphed in the Waring Cup final of the 1945-46 season. So the squad received no medals.

But now, survivors from that heroic schoolboy line-up of immediate post-war years have received their due reward. The red carpet was rolled out for them at their old school, where they received handsome trophies, souvenir booklets charting their successes, plus special certificates and archive pictures of the team.

These also featured their no-nonsense coach, Horace Davies ("best in the business", agreed the sporting veterans) who went on to become long-serving headmaster of Parr Central.

Horace's teacher son, Peter, was there to hand out the trophies and to receive one in return, from the veterans, in honour of his late father. It is being passed on to Horace's widow, Madge, now in her late 80s and living in the Isle of Man.

As television cameras rolled, the old-timers were introduced to the unique morning assembly by the joker of the pack, Norman ('Quicksilver') Owen, once a flying winger and now a bus-pass holder, who chirpily read out pen pictures of his old rugby buddies and proudly recounted the time when a crowd of 10,000 was attracted to the Saints ground for a Daily Dispatch Shield match, featuring his old school team.

There was a murmur of pride amid the faint creak of arthritic hips and ancient knee-joints as Norman (now 68 and a prime mover behind the celebration) reminded them that, on that day, Grange Park thrashed the Barrow schoolboy champions by 43 points to nil.

Further bygone matches were once again played out in the memories of the old timers over the coffee and biscuits which followed the packed assembly.

There was much enthusiastic nodding of heads now turned silvery or thin of thatch as those glory days, and the unforgettable characters who competed in them, were recalled. They included triumph in the Marsden Cup final of 1948-49 and becoming Ellison Cup runners-up the previous season. You could almost smell the boot-dubbin and embrocation...

Twelve of the old gang made it to the ceremony, all glorying under their proud boyhood nicknames. Les (Wheel) Barrow, Bob (Tiger) Forshaw, Ted (Boots) Garnett, Reg (Gibbo) Gibson, Arthur (Mop) Griffiths, who went on to play for Warrington, Rochdale Hornets and Liverpool City.

Alongside them, Dave (Mr Versatile) Harrison, Ron (Dynamite) Lever, Dennis ('Gerrat'em' ) Lomax, Rob (Ginger) Maloney, Larry (Artful Dodger) Pilkington, Roy (Rob Roy) Welsby. And, of course, the irrepressible Norman Owen, a regular contributor to this page.

A poignant note was struck when the event organiser, Alex Service, a head of department at what is now Broadway Community High School and the well-known Saints historian, made a special announcement.

Eric Mather, once a superb schoolboy full-back included in the celebratory booklet's hall of fame, had died a fortnight earlier. Though ill, he had be desperately keen to attend, and his trophy was received, on Eric's behalf, by son Anthony.

Other squad members, some of them now passed on, have been listed including John (Eggy) Travis, Tom (Wooder) Woods, Bill (Mammy) Blundell, Billy (The Tactician) Roberts, Gerald (Stimmy) Stimson, Ron (The Destroyer) Stretch, Ted Cooper, Ged Hannon, Ron Howard, Bill (Sos) Jones and London evacuee Colin Burrill. It may have taken half a century to receive those trophies, but, as the old-timers cheerfully posed for the cameras they all, as of one voice, agreed that it was well worth the wait.