Each day whilst we are all in Lockdown we will recall a famous Saints moment from the current day thanks to Saints Heritage Society.
16 MAY 1993!
Premiership final: St. Helens 10-4 Wigan at Old Trafford.
After a series of demoralising defeats against the Old Enemy in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the 1992-93 season saw the Saints hell-bent on trying to redress the balance. Saints overcame Wigan 17-0 in the Charity Shield showdown at Gateshead, won 41-6 at Knowsley Road on Boxing Day and drew 8-8 at Central Park on Good Friday, while the biggest prize was yet to come. That was to be an epic 10-4 Premiership Final triumph at Manchester’s Theatre of Dreams, with Saints thwarting Wigan’s five-trophy Grand Slam hopes, and also gaining revenge for a single point Lancashire Cup Final defeat and being pipped for the Championship on points difference during the campaign.
A scoreless first half appeared likely until Saints’ skipper Shane Cooper’s chip-through ricocheted off a Wigan defender for Gary Connolly to touch down. Fully 60 minutes elapsed before Wigan levelled at 4-4, when Frano Botica engineered a try for Mike Forshaw. Wigan-born scrum-half Gus O’Donnell edged Saints in front again with successive drop-goals, and the issue remained in the melting pot until five minutes from time, when slick cross-field passing sent centre Paul Loughlin over in the left-hand corner.
Saints’ victory was their fourth in a Premiership Final, while for Wigan the defeat was their first in 19 finals since they lost to Saints in the Lancashire Cup Final of 1984. It also heralded the end of a run of 25 consecutive victories in knock-out competitions over the previous 18 months. A certain youngster named Chris Joynt was a landslide winner of the Harry Sunderland Man-of-the-Match. There was also a special place of honour at the post-match celebrations for prop forward colossus Kevin Ward, whose career had been tragically ended by a serious leg injury at Wigan on Good Friday.
Here he is pictured celebrating with the team after the game!
