1985 Premiership final | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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St. Helens 36 Hull KR 16 (VIEW MATCH) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Open rugby at its best! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Garry Ainsworth scores Although Rovers levelled the scores with a try and goal from Fairburn, the Saints responded with another devastating piece of support play. Second rower Roy Haggerty did the initial spadework, before feeding Barrie Ledger with a clever one-handed pass. Full-back Phil Veivers, backing up on the inside, finished the move in style! Halfway through an entertaining first period, it was time for giant Australian centre Mal Meninga to make his presence felt. Mighty Mal latched onto a brilliant ball from Holding and surged down the left touchline, before being felled just short of the Rovers' 25 by a near-suicidal Fairburn crash-tackle! Quick hands by Holding, Platt, Pinner and Peters swept the ball across the field to create the perfect overlap for Barrie Ledger, whose searing pace did the rest. Hull KR soon reduced the deficit to 10-16 with a try from winger Laws. Stung out of their complacency, the St. Helens defence pinned the Humbersiders in their own half with some dynamic tackling from young second-rower Andy Platt. In a desperate attempt to get his threequarters moving, Rovers' loose forward Hall, a replacement for the injured Australian Gavin Miller, fired out a long wide pass -straight into the hands of Meninga - who gratefully cruised to the line from 30 yards. Day's goal gave the cock-a-hoop Saints a 22-10 advantage. Yet as half time approached, Kiwi prop mark Broadhurst crashed through to put centre Robinson in for an unconverted try. The game was still in the melting pot after the interval, as the Saints, still to win a scrum, were forced to withstand a series of all-out assaults from a Rovers' side determined to gain the ascendancy. A Fairburn penalty gave the Robins fresh impetus at 22-16, until the unfortunate Hall attempted another disastrous lofted pass. Meninga loomed large once again, to pluck the ball out of the air and showed incredible pace for such a big man by holding off speedster Gary Clark and George Fairburn in an incredible 75 yards dash to the line! Mighty Mal's superb opportunism finally dispelled any chance of a 'Rover's Return' as the Saints finished like they had begun, with some classic running rugby league! In the 72nd.minute, Harry Pinner crowned a stunning Man-of-the-Match performance by waltzing past six bemused Hull KR defenders for the sixth St. Helens try, which Day converted. Virtually on the final hooter, another superbly timed Pinner pass sent Holding scorching to half-way before feeding Shaun Allen. Barrie Ledger gratefully accepted the substitute's overhead pass to clinch a Premiership record score of 36-16 and set the seal on a marvellous team performance and a truly classic encounter. Harry Pinner, whose leadership qualities and superb ball-handling skills had been so vital to Saints' success, proudly accepted the Premiership Trophy on behalf of his team-mates - after his 300th game for the club! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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