Bradford Bulls 32, Saints 40 SAINTS brought the Silk Cut Challenge Cup back to town for the first time in 20 years after arguably the best of the 61 finals fought out at Wembley Stadium as both teams gave their all.

It was an absolutely heart-stopping, incident-packed extravaganza studded with 13 tries, with each and every one of the 75,994 enthralled spectators glued to their seats until the final hooter, for it was then and only then that Saints' fanatical following knew the trophy was on its way to Knowsley Road.

Post-match talking points abounded as ecstatic Saints' fans headed back up the M1, but surely the one taking pride of place was a second-half 'come-back from the dead' by their heroes .

Picture the scene: 56 minutes gone and a stampeding Bradford Bulls' leading 26-12 and threatening to trample all over shell-shocked Saints in humid 90-plus temperatures. If ever there there was a time for inspirational leadership and a need for flashes of genius this was it, and skipper Bobbie Goulding (pictured) and his warriors promptly delivered in making lightning strike three times in the same place.

Desperate situations demand desperate measures, and within the space of seven minutes the Saintly scenario was transformed as Goulding's towering, 'bombs' into the glaring sun found full-back Nathan Graham in a tangle, and it spoke volumes for Saints' chasing strategy that the net result was 18 priceless points and with it regaining of the lead.

A tactic not designed for the purist admittedly, but given that this weakness had been previously pin-pointed in the Bulls' defence one such successful ploy was feasible; two possible; but a third incredible - small wonder that many of the Knowsley Road faithful developed symptoms of high blood pressure and extreme nervous tension! The hapless Graham probably wished he be cast away on some remote desert island after his harrowing second half on the wide open spaces of Wembley, and it is a tragic irony that Nathan was outstanding earlier but in mitigation it must be said that he suffered from lack of cover by his team-mates.

Among the first to spring to Graham's defence was Steve Prescott who is no stranger to the loneliness of the full-back position and this gesture, along with the generous applause accorded to the gallant losers - ex-Knowsley Road stars Bernard Dwyer, Paul Loughlin and Sonny Nickle in particular - by Saints supporters are typical examples of the bond that makes Rugby League the envy of the sporting world.

Two-try full-back 'Precky' was on course for the both the Lance Todd Trophy and the £10,000 prize for the first hat-trick at Wembley, and might have scooped the latter award if only Goulding's chip-through had not rebounded from the cross-bar.

But there could be questioning the right of Bradford's Robbie Paul for the double accolade, for as well as a trio of touchdowns the youngest captain in a Wembley Final at just 20 years three months also received a landslide 34 votes in the Trophy stakes.

Compelling viewing no doubt, both for those who made the annual pilgrimage to Wembley and for a world-wide television audience, all of whom must have experienced the complete gamut of emotions from satisfaction on reaching the final; jubilation or despair as the unforgettable struggle unfolded; suspense as matters reached crescendo pitch, and ecstasy or agony after 80 pulsating minutes. Given such a game that lifted the spirit and a result that will work wonders in the glass town, in would be invidious to linger any longer on the contributions of individuals; certainly from a St. Helens angle it is sufficient to record that Saturday, April 27, was the date that many of a lighter, younger Saints' side went to Wembley as boys and returned as men.

For the benefit of the statistically minded further records went by the board, Saints' 40-point tally being the highest for a triumphant team; with Bulls' 32 likewise for the losers, with the aggregate the largest as a consequence, but the real winner was the game of Rugby League football, which must have a 'feel-good factor' as never before.

Defending the tunnel end, Saints were first out of the blocks within three minutes when Goulding targetted his first 'bomb' in the direction of Loughlin and Jonathan Scales, and hesitancy by the Bradford pair saw Danny Arnold feed Scott Gibbs, and the Welsh ace powered through 'Locker's' tackle to send the supporting Prescott over, but Goulding missed the conversion attempt.

All the opening pressure had come from Saints against a Bulls' side whose approach was error-strewn in failing to complete sets of six tackles, and the omens were ominous for Bradford when Goulding's chip was seized upon by Prescott and he showed dribbling skills worthy of Robbie Fowler before diving over for his second touchdown with 17 minutes on the clock.

However, the apparent one-way traffic ground to an halt when the tireless Dwyer, Paul and Loughlin put Scales away on a 45-yard galllop to the corner for Paul Cook to land a steepling touchline conversion, and when the Bulls' winger was on target with a 30-yard penalty after Andy Leathem fouled John Hamer matters were all square at 8-8 on the half-hour.

Andy Northey limped off with a groin strain to signal the arrival of Tommy Martyn, and it fell to former Bulls' star Paul Newlove to break the deadlock with a barnstorming surge to the right, and the free-scoring Arnold took over to wrong-foot the Bradford cover and plunge through the despairing tackle of Nickle to restore the Saints' advantage, but Goulding was once again out of luck with the goal-kick.

Bradford then received a massive psychological boost on the stroke of half-time when, after Graham and Matt Calland had plundered the Saints' midfield defence, the ever-alert Paul stole over from first receiver and added the conversion to leave a somewhat non-plussed Goulding and his men trailing by 14-12. There was little slackening of tempo from the Bulls on the resumption, and it fell to man-of-the-match contender Dwyer to restart the scoreboard when he dummied and burrowed through the tackles of Goulding, Chris Joynt and Prescott to touch down between the uprights to render Cook's conversion a formality.

Distress signals were really flying in the Saints camp when Paul miraculously wriggled over from dummy half for another six-pointer, and now facing a deficit of 26-12 there were premature, albeit understandable mutterings of 'here we go again!' from certain disenchanted Saints' followers.

Happily it proved very much a case of 'oh ye of little faith, as Goulding launched a bomb with Kieron Cunningham leaping like a salmon to touch down after Graham had made the fatal mistake of allowing the ball to bounce, and then Simon Booth and Ian Pickavance followed their hooker into orbit before coming down to earth again.

Now 30-26 to the good, Saints moved into overdrive as Gibbs and Karle Hammond carved out an opening for Arnold to notch his second try, but the 'blink and you miss something' scoring pattern continued when the peerless Paul broke on half-way and cut a huge swathe in the Saints' cover before rounding Prescott and allowing Cook to complete a six-from-six goalkicking return.

So Saints clung to a two-point lead with just five minutes remaining, and it was here that Samoan prop Apollo Perelini latched onto a Goulding reverse pass to moon-rocket his way to the line for Bobbie 'G' to goal and so give Saints' welcome breathing space, but Scales was then halted in the nick of time by Gibbs as Bradford battled to the end in a contest in which not one blow was struck in anger

Bradford Bulls: Graham; Cook, Calland, Loughlin, Scales; Bradley, Paul; McDermott, Dwyer, Hamer, Donougher, Nickle, Knox. Substitutes Fairbank for Hamer (19), Medley for Nickle (32), Donohue for Knox (60), Hassan for Graham (68).

Saints: Prescott; Arnold, Gibbs, Newlove, Sullivan; Hammond, Goulding; Perelini, Cunningham, Leathem, Joynt, Booth, Northey. Substitutes Martyn for Northey (25), Pickavance for Martyn (46), Matautia for Leathem (50), Hunte for Perelini (58bb), Perelini for Hunte (71).

Referee: Stuart Cummings (Widnes).

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.