Wigan Warriors 4 St Helens 8: Late drama in the Grand Final

Shevington teenager Jack Welsby snatched glory for St Helens in a chaotic, dramatic finish to a tense and bruising contest.

The score was locked 4-4 when winger Tommy Makinson attempted a drop-goal on the hooter. The ball ricocheted off the crossbar, dropped and bounced into the ingoal - and the chasing Welsby squeezed past Bevan French to ground it.

Video referee Ben Thaler gave the try the green light - condemning the Warriors to a defeat in Sean O'Loughlin's final game.

It means Wigan were unable to add a sixth Super League title to their collection, and coach Adrian Lam - yet to sign a contract for 2021 - is still waiting for his first Grand Final win as a coach or player.

It was an agonising way for the Warriors to lose and in hindsight, they may point to some of their other shortcomings during the game. But they fully contributed to a tense decider between two quality sides at the end of a surreal season, in which everyone involved deserved immense credit.

The Warriors had defended manfully throughout and having trailed 2-0 at half-time, managed to edge in front through Jake Bibby's try - only for Saints to lock it up and set the stage for an ending which script-writers would struggle to conjure.

The KCOM Stadium may have been deserted but Super League did their best to make it feel like a big game, with a pre-match light show and a stirring rendition of Jerusalem before the teams emerged - cheered on by the dozen or so non-playing members of each squad.

There were no surprises in the line-ups, with Sam Powell and Joe Greenwood returning to the Warriors line-up and Saints unchanged.

Many predicted a tight, low scoring affair and the first-half certainly lived up to that billing, with Lachlan Coote's penalty on the stroke of half-time the only thing splitting the sides.

Saints dominated in terms of territory throughout the opening 40 minutes, but Wigan had the best scoring chance in the 28th minute when Hardaker was held up over the line.

By that point, he had shifted to the left wing while Joe Burgess was off for a spell for a head assessment.

The intensity was high but there seemed a nervousness, with reliable figures such as Coote and O'Loughlin making errors late in the opening half. Morgan Smithies' late challenge on the kicker resulted in Coote striking the goal on the stroke of half-time.

Wigan started brightly in the second-half, forcing a repeat set within five minutes, but from the subsequent attack Jake Bibby - who scored Salford's only try in last year's Grand Final - couldn't reel in French's pass.

From then on, the tone reverted to the first-half, with Saints exerting sustained pressure on the Warriors' line, as Zeb Taia had a try ruled out for offside by video referee Thaler.

But slowly, they improved, and by the hour-mark French and Gildart had sprinkled their stardust on the attack to help conjure threats on each edge. Still, their finishing was clinical enough - Bibby stumbled and slid into touch on one occasion - but it was a vast improvement.

And when they repeated the ploy moments later, this time Bibby made no mistake, charging onto French's pass and siding over for the game's first try.

Hardaker's conversion attempt rebounded off the crossbar, giving Lam's side a slender 4-2 lead heading into the final 12 minutes.

Coote locked the scores after Hastings was penalised for a high tackle with six minutes to go.

With many contemplating the first golden-point Grand Final, a penalty with 90 seconds to go handed Hardaker the chance to win it - only for his effort to be off target.

But there was still time for one final match-clinching play... and it went Saints' way.

Wigan: French; Bibby, Hardaker, Gildart, J Burgess; Leuluai, Hastings; Bullock, Powell, Singleton, Isa, Farrell, Partington. Subs: Clubb, Greenwood, O'Loughlin, Smithies

St Helens: Coote; Makinson, Naiqama, Welsby, Grace; Lomax, Fages; Walmsley, Roby, Graham, Taia, Bentley, Knowles. Subs: Peyroux, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Lees, Amor

Referee: Chris Kendall

Half-time: 0-2