St Helens will meet Leeds Rhinos in the Super League Grand Final for a fifth time in the competition’s history.
Kristian Woolf’s men secured their place following a 19-12 win over the Salford Red Devils, but there were a number of flashpoints during the match that hit the headlines.
One of those included a 75th minute incident that saw Tommy Makinson sin binned for a professional foul on Tim Lafai when the latter looked to dot down a pinpoint Marc Sneyd kick.
Lafai was winning the race to the ball before Makinson pulled the Salford centre back, leaving referee Chris Kendall with no choice but to send the Saints winger to the sin bin.
However, Red Devils captain Elijah Taylor pleaded with Kendall to go to the video referee for a potential penalty try after Lafai looked destined to score.
Kendall, on the other hand, awarded just a penalty to Salford – much to the chagrin of Red Devils’ fans and players.
And, for Channel 4 pundit Sam Tomkins, it should have gone in Salford’s favour.
“That is a textbook penalty try,” Tomkins said live on Channel 4.
“If Tommy Makinson doesn’t do that then Tim Lafai scores.
“It’s ended up being a genius play by Makinson because the game would have been in the balance with one point separating the two teams.”
As it was, Saints hung on for what was, on reflection, a deserved win given the weight of possession and territory.
The Champions will now meet Leeds at Old Trafford for the fifth time having lost the last four meetings between the two at the Theatre of Dreams.
However, this time they will go into the game as overwhelming favourites against the fifth place Rhinos. Nonetheless, it should be an outstanding game no doubt set to produce talking points akin to this one.
