Teenager Jack Welsby scored a brilliant try after the full-time hooter to give St Helens an 8-4 victory over Wigan Warriors in a thrilling end to the Super League Grand Final on Friday as they won their second successive title.
Lachlan Coote had scored with two kicks either side of a Jake Bibby try for Wigan, but with the clock running down, the two sides were still locked at 4-4 after battling their way through an enthralling encounter.
Tommy Makinson launched a last-ditch drop goal to try to break the deadlock for St Helens. His kick hit a post but Welsby reacted first, speeding in to touch the ball down and steal the victory for St Helens as the Wigan players looked on stunned.
"It was unreal. It just shows you don't give up on any play. A young kid playing his first Grand Final and he's a real player for the future," St Helens head coach Kristian Woolf said of the 19-year-old Welsby.
"To score a try like that to win a Grand Final, it doesn't get much better than that."
Wigan captain Sean O'Loughlin, who was playing in his last game before retirement, was devastated at the end after his side's superb defensive display in a final for the ages.
"It was unbelievable to be part of, but it's a shame how it ended. It's gutting but that's sport," he said.
"I thought it was an unbelievable game. There's nothing we can do about it now, it's done. We can't have too many regrets, it happens."
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing by Ken Ferris)
