Saints through to Old Trafford

Twenty-year-old scrum-half Matty Smith, deputising for injured talisman Sean Long, was Saints' hero with a match-winning penalty 13 minutes from the end of a pulsating semi-final at Knowsley Road.

St Helens were forced to defend for long periods but hung on for a precious victory despite being well below their best.

The visitors had opened the scoring but it was firmly against the run of play - Leeds winger Lee Smith latched onto Jon Wilkin's pass meant for Willie Talau and showed a clean pair of heels on an 80-metre sprint to the line.

Rhinos captain Kevin Sinfield added the conversion and had the misfortune to shave the outside of an upright with a penalty after Nick Fozzard was pulled up for illegal use of his arm in the tackle.

The try did not deter the champions, however, and they duly equalised on 15 minutes when Leon Pryce wrong-footed the Leeds defence with his jinking run that took him all the way to the line.

Smith kicked the conversion and edged his side in front after 21 minutes with a penalty, but the champions had a let-off when a grubber kick from Matt Diskin rebounded off a post into the grateful arms of Paul Wellens with a trio of attacking players ready to pounce.

Leeds drew level 10 minutes into the second half when Matthew Gidley was punished for a high tackle on Ian Kirke and Sinfield put over a 40-metre penalty, and they almost scored a try when Saints needed Paul Wellens to come to the rescue after Jordan Tansey hacked a loose ball forward.

Leeds scrum-half Rob Burrow attempted to break the deadlock on 65 minutes with a drop goal but his kick struck an upright and bounced back into play.

Smith was accurate enough with a second penalty after Jamie Peacock had been pulled up for a high tackle on Fozzard to edge his side back in front but Saints were indebted to a last-ditch tackle from Gidley to deny Brent Webb.