All week, the talk had been whether the Leigh Leopards could make the first final of the season, and their first Challenge Cup final since they beat Leeds in the 1971 final, that being their first final since 1921, by beating the Super League Champions St Helens at the Halliwell-Jones.

Leigh won the only encounter of 2023 by 20-12 but that was back in round four when Saints were suffering a massive World Club Challenge hangover and the bookies made them slight favourites for the win and progress to the final as Leigh were given a six-point start on the handicap coupon.

Leigh brought a massive and vociferous support to Warrington, their fans full of hope and expectation that they would be the ones partying come the final whistle. It was Leigh’s first semi-final since 1987 when they lost to St Helens by 14-8, the majority of the crowd hoping for a better outcome thirty-six years on.

Early stalemate set the stage for what promised to be an arm-wrestle of a game between two evenly matched sides.

The deadlock was broken on eighteen minutes when Joey Lussick scooted from dummy half, launched himself between two Leigh defenders, Tom Amone and Edwin Ipape and forced the ball to the ground under the sticks before having the grounding confirmed by the video referee. Tommy Makinson added the conversion from the shadow of the posts for a 6-0 lead.

A sensational 40-20 from Makinson on twenty-two put Saints ten metres from the Leopards line. Alex Walmsley went close on the second tackle but was held up, the same for Lussick on the fourth, but Leigh managed to defend their line and regain possession without conceding any more points.

A great tackle from Josh Charnley on twenty-six denied a flying Makinson a try in the right-hand corner.

A Leigh ball steal from Amone on thirty-nine, five from their own line, gave Makinson a simple penalty to extend the lead to eight points going into the interval, but he skewed the ball wide of the near upright, after a humdinger of a first half which saw the sides separated by just a single converted try.

Leigh were level within three minutes of the restart, Oliver Holmes taking a pass from Lachlan Lam to hit a gap and sprint twenty metres to score halfway between the posts and corner flag. Ben Reynolds added the pressure goal for 6-6.

On fifty-three a Lam kick to the corner was chased by Tom Briscoe and Tee Ritson who shoulder charged each other out of the way allowing Zak Hardaker to pounce on the rolling ball and ground an inch from the dead ball line. Reynolds was unable to add the touchline conversion, but the Leopards were ahead for the first time in the game, a different Saints in the second half.

Sione Mata’utia was sin-binned for a late tackle on the kicker on sixty minutes, Reynolds taking the opportunity to extend the Leopards lead by two points.

Konrad Hurrell crashed over the line on sixty-seven but was held up by a terrier like Leigh defence, and a sensational last-ditch tackle by Hardaker on seventy-two prevented Jonny Lomax from scoring the levelling try.

On seventy-four Agnatius Paasi lost the ball under the tackle on the Leigh line, picking up an injury in the process, as the Leopards defended as though their very lives depended on it.

With two minutes left on the clock Lomax ran the angle and managed to dive over the line for the second Saints try of the afternoon, Makinson unable to add the conversion which would have levelled the scores, Saints hearts broken, Leigh on their way to Wembley.

For the first time in fifty-two years a team from Leigh had made it to Wembley for a Challenge Cup final. The perennial finalists St Helens had fallen at the semi-final hurdle to the underdogs and outsiders who will now travel en-masse to London on the twelfth of August. Who would now back against them lifting the famous old trophy.

Leigh Leopards: O’Brien, Briscoe, Hardaker (T), Chamberlain, Charnley, Reynolds (2G), Lam, Mulhern, Ipape, Amone, Holmes (T), Hughes, Asiata. Subs: Nakubuwai, Mellor, Wilde, Davis. 18th Man: Seumanufagai.  

St Helens: Welsby, Makinson (G), Hurrell, Hopoate, Ritson, Lomax (T), Dodd, Walmsley, Lussick (T), Lees, Mata’utia (SB on 60) Bell, Knowles.  Subs:  McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Paasi, Davies, Delaney. 18th Man: Royle.

Half-Time: 0-6.

Full-Time: 12-10.

Score Progression: 0-4, 0-6 : HT: 4-6, 6-6, 10-6, (SB), 12-6, 12-10 :FT.

Lead Exchanges: St Helens – Square – Leigh.

Referee: Chris Kendall.