St Helens 23-6 Salford Red Devils: Super League Grand Final – as it happened

Here is Aaron Bowers’ report from Old Trafford.

Thanks for joining me.

Ian Watson says the best team won on the night, which is certainly accurate. He says wants to keep some of the extra fans that turned up for the Grand Final to help take Salford forward in the future.

Skipper Roby says the win is what outgoing coach Justin Holbrook “deserves”. He then comes in for a chat, which is greeted with a huge cheers from the fans. Holbrook says he was not nervous throughout the game thanks to his full confidence in the team and players.

“Sometimes dreams don’t come true,” says Jackson Hastings, adding that St Helens are “too good”.

Luke Thompson is awarded the Man of the Match award and trots out a few cliches. In the background McCarthy-Scarsbrook runs the length of the pitch and dives to the ground. Thompson does add that this is the Saints’ best team he’s played in.

Salford’s players collapse to the ground, while St Helens run around and hug each other. The Red Devils look disappointed but they can really be proud of their season as a whole and there’s no shame in losing to this Saints team.

Was it ever in doubt? There was no fairytale for Salford as St Helens dominated from start to finish apart from a 10-minute period prior to half-time. Salford just could not cope with the quality in the end.

Makinson wanted some adulation, so whacks a drop goal from distance to add an extra point.

78 mins: This is all done and dusted, to be honest. Everyone is just going through motions.

76 mins: Evalds evades a number of Saints players and picks up some good distance but it comes to nothings as the final tackle ends with another Coote catch.

74 mins: Inu sends a kick far too long, which Coote claims without fuss in his goal area.

72 mins: Lots of red and white flags are waving as St Helens move closer and closer to victory. Salford try a short kick in an attempt to claim possession. Thompson goes down with cramp – he is yet to go off, so might be time to do so.

The referee once again angers the Salford fans as someone is adjudged offside, gifting a penalty to St Helens. Coote lines it up and sends it over.

69 mins: Walmsley almost bundles his way through four Salford players but he is just held up about five yards from the line. Jones offloads superbly to Evalds, allowing Salford to make a few more yards but then St Helens claim it after a crossfield kick on the final tackle.

67 mins: This game is getting away from Salford, despite their best efforts. They’ll have some frustrations with the referee, too.

65 mins: Lussick whacks a stunning 40:20 kick to earn some territory. Salford move things quickly and get close to the line but then Dudson knocks. He is held up and then Smith pulls him down as he tries to play the ball. The referee has had a very bad second half, making decisions generally in St Helens’ favour.

63 mins: St Helens are14 points up now and look like adding a few more. Evalds takes another great catch for Salford but it’s just further proof how often they’ve been stuck in their own 22.

Bibby fails to play the ball correctly and the referee calls him out. Saints get the scrum on the 22, then Dudson shows his frustration with a high tackle on Thompson, allowing Coote to knock one from under the sticks.

58 mins: Salford go through a full set of six and barely earn any yards until Hastings whacks the ball downfield for Coote to claim. Makinson takes a run for the first time since suffering his injury and looks sore after the hit. Mossop then smashes into Taia, who comes out of it badly.

56 mins: A big hit from Naigama on Inu results in the Salford man dropping the ball. Naigama does not seem to actually try to tackle Inu and instead hits him with the shoulder, resulting in a knock-on. Another poor decision from the referee.

54 mins: Salford get into a dangerous position, Hastings tries to dummy a couple of defenders but they read it and take him down. Lussick is the next to have a go but he’s held up before the line. A Hastings kick is devoured by Coote and St Helens start again.

52 mins: Can Salford bounce back from this? The key might be to attack Makinson who looks like he is functioning with one arm but they have no suitable replacements, so they really want him to stay on.

On the final tackle, Percival darts inside, clips the ball through the defence with his boot, chases it down and dives onto it. The referee checks the grounding but it’s fine. It was a great bit of creativity from Percival. Coote whacks over the conversion.

48 mins: We definitely have a serious final on our hands now. Fages sends a forward pass and it’s spotted for a penalty to Salford before things could get dangerous.

46 mins: Inu gets back into the game by collecting Coote’s kick. Evalds almost breaks through the defence is just about stopped before he can get away and head for the line.

44 mins: The clock is off after Makinson is forced to the ground but comes up holding his shoulder and looks in pain. He gets up to carry on but seems uncomfortable.

Ashworth is ruled offside after a big chase, allowing Salford to gain some territory. Their set of six sees Inu get a whack in the head from Ashworth (that man again). Seems like a bit of a needless headbutt from Ashworth who is being very aggressive out there. Calm down, mate. Inu looks quite groggy, too.

42 mins: Sio collects the long kick to end a set of six and Salford kickstart their half from deep. There’s a bit of thrust to get Salford up to the halfway line, then a high kick is taken by Makinson to end it.

Salford are back out first, as they are so keen to show what they can do. St Helens follow them. Should be cracking.

After dominating the first 25 minutes of so, St Helens are now in a contest, that’s for sure. It looked like Saints would be out of sight by the break thanks to two tries but then Salford fought back and looked like the better side for the final quarter of the half. If Salford can keep this up, then it should be a fascinating second half.

38 mins: St Helens power up to the halfway line but Evalds again retrieves the kick.

36 mins: Evalds claims a good catch from an up and under and sets up Salford for a set of six. Salford try to move the ball along the line too quickly and a pass is misplaced but no St Helens player can get his hands on it. Hastings with a good kick into the corner relieves pressure and gives Saints a scrum on their own 10 yard line.

34 mins: I thought Salford were almost out of this game already but they’ve made the most of some quickly generated momentum. Salford’s players and fans have certainly stepped it up a notch.

Hastings is at the heart of everything positive for Salford and he shows his importance again with some good hands out wide, putting the ball into the hands of Bibby, allowing him to drop a shoulder and power through to get over the line. Inu whacks the ball through the posts from a tricky position.

30 mins: Hastings dives on a loose ball after Fages sends it back to no one. Salford have enjoyed a couple of good minutes and need to make the most of the slight improvement. Hastings cuts through the defence and the ball ends up out wide with Sio but he’s held up, not that it matters as the referee decrees Salford merit another set of six.