Grand Final from Old Trafford: Relive how it all unfolded, from the pre-match atmosphere to the final hooter

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  • WARRINGTON Wolves are going for glory in their first Super League Grand Final.
  • They are 80 minutes away from being crowned champions for the first time in 57 years.
  • And in the process they could become only the third team in the Super League era to win the Challenge Cup and Grand Final double.
  • It is going to be an emotional ride from the first whistle to the final hooter with hopefully a night of unprecented celebrations to follow.
  • It's all live here. This is our time - Now The Wire!

8:09pm

That's it folks, reaction from the camp to follow in fresh stories.

Good night, see you next season.

8:08pm

Queen's We Are The Champions is ringing out around Old Trafford as the Leeds Rhinos set out on their lap of honour. They've done it two years on the running from fifth spot and broke Wolves' hearts two years running when it came to the crunch at play-offs time.

8:07pm

Great show of respect from Wolves' players as they stood on the pitch and watched Leeds collect the trophy and celebrate their win. These are feelings of 'what might have been' and the feelings that can inspire Wolves next season. Leeds skipper Kevin Sinfield paid tribute to Wolves in his speech, saying: "I think you're a wonderful team."

8:00pm

8:00pm

Wolves' players can hold their heads high.

As they go off to thank the fans for their support, they should remember they have reached new ground for this club in the modern era.

It has been a stunning season. They've won the Challenge Cup, finished second in the league, reached their first Grand Final.

That's no consolation tonight after losing out at Old Trafford.

But it's one hell of a team that has laid a superb foundation to go one step further next year and finally end the championship drought.

You've done yourselves proud boys, you've done the club proud and you've done the town proud.

 

7:56pm

7:55pm

Wolves' players are in tears halfway between the halfway line and the Wolves end of Old Trafford, which is quickly emptying

7:54pm

SUMMARY: A great final. Wolves gave their all but conceded too many penalties in the early part of the second half and the amount of tackling took its toll on their attacking prowess. Leeds had all the territory and came up with the killer try through Ryan Hall.

7:53pm

FULL TIME: Warrington Wolves 18 Leeds Rhinos 26

7:52pm

It's all over.

7:51pm

Two minutes to go. Leeds are champions for fifth time in six years.

7:49pm

Tonight's attendance: 70,676 and Kevin Sinfield has won the Harry Sunderland Trophy as man of the match

7:47pm

76mins: Four minutes to go and Rob Burrow kicks a 40/20. Looks to be all over barring a miracle now.

7:47pm

7:44pm

71mins: TRY. Ryan Hall goes over for Leeds. The Rhinos kept the ball alive and Carl Ablett fed Hall on the outside of Joel Monaghan. Kevin Sinfield converts, 18-26

7:37pm

We're in the last 13 minutes of the game and Wolves are struggling to get out of their own half. Leeds are winning the territorial battle.

7:31pm

7:30pm

58mins: TRY. It had to come, Wolves have just conceded their fifth penalty of the half and paid the price. They had been holding out superbly but in the end Shaun Lunt's pass allows Carl Ablett to crash over the top of Briers and touch down. Kevin Sinfield lands the extras, 18-20. This is going to go down to the wire.

7:24pm

54mins: Wolves' defence holding out brilliantly after being under the cosh for seven minutes. Smith's men need more ball and less penalties against them.

7:17pm

You could see it all over Ryan Atkins' face how much this means to the Wolves players. Sweet for him playing against his hometwon club too

7:15pm

44mins: TRY. Ryan Atkins gets over the top of two Rhinos defenders on the short side from a Brett Hodgson pass. The chance came after Richie Mylr stole the ball off Zak Hardaker as the full back attempted a kick return. Hodgson misses the kick, 18-14

7:14pm

Celebrating Richie Myler's try

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7:10pm

Richie Myler's opening try for Warrington tonight. Great picture by Guardian chief photographer Mike Boden

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7:04pm

 

7:03pm

Obviously not everyone is as mad about rugby as others....but a huge proportion of Warrington residents are in Old Trafford tonight living the dream....Wolves in their first Super League Grand Final and going for their first title in 57 years. Now The Wire

7:01pm

6:52pm Sat 6 Oct 12

parsnips73 says

Nice commentary but get things into perspective - what do you want for tea? xx

7:01pm

7:01pm

Feelings of Saints last week about this game at half time.

Wolves trailed 14-6 in both games and struck shortly before half time to take the momentum into the dressing rooms.

We all know what happened at Langtree Park, with Wolves running wild in the second period.

Here's hoping.....

6:50pm

6:49pm

HALF-TIME: Warrington Wolves 14 Leeds Rhinos 14

6:49pm

40mins: Jamie Jones Buchanan not square at the play-the-ball gifts Brett Hodgson a penalty shot which he fires over to level the scores at 14-14 with the last kick of the half

6:47pm

37mins: TRY. Wolves are back in it. An extra six tackles were earned when Danny McGuire deflected a Lee Briers pass on the left. Crafty Briers then popped up on the right to throw a long ball on the outside of Ryan Hall for Joel Monaghan to scoot over. Brett Hodgson did the business with the kick, 12-14

6:43pm

35mins: A couple of Leeds handling mistakes and Wolves' first penalty raise fresh hope

6:41pm

33mins: Wolves' fans are very quiet. It's all Leeds on and off the field at the moment.

6:39pm

6:38pm

27mins: TRY. The Mike Cooper penalty proves costly, although controversially. Zak Hardaker's pass to en Jones-Bishop was a mile forward but missed by Richard Silverwood and the winger cut inside Chris Riley and Brett Hodgson to score a try again converted by Kevin Sinfield from the touchline, 6-14. Wolves need to get a grip of this riproaring showdown.

6:33pm

26mins: Mike Cooper joins the action and hits Brett Delaney high with his first tackle. Penalty to Leeds.

6:31pm

25mins: First penalty of the game to Leeds for BBen Harrison's interference at Ryan Bailey's play-the-ball. Kevin Sinfield lands the kick from 30 metres, 6-8

6:30pm

23mins: Michael Monaghan arrives on the filed and knocks on from Ryan Atkins' offload. Scrum to Leeds on Wolves' 40m line

6:28pm

21mins: Adrian Morley and Paul Wood are on

6:26pm

19mins: TRY: Joel Monaghan couldn't take Kevin Sinfield's hick kick under pressure from Ryan Hall. The ball fell kindly to Carl Ablett and he turned out of Brett Hodgson's tackle to feed Sinfield and he scored with a stretch out of Stefan Ratchford's tackle. Sinfield converted from the touchline, 6-6

6:22pm

11mins: Ryan Hall has a Leeds try ruled out for a forward pass from his skipper Kevin Sinfield

6:11pm

8mins: It's been a dream start from Wolves. They look strong and assured. Leeds have messed up two kicks at the end of their sets.

6:10pm

7mins: Jamie Jones-Buchanan is sprawled on the floor with an injured shoulder

6:08pm

6:06pm

3mins: TRY. Richie Myler shrugs off a defendr and darts over. The try came after Ben Jones-Bishop dropped Lee Briers' cross-field kick and Chris Riley was held up over the line. Then Myler worked his magic. Wolves' fans have gone ballistic and appear to be filling more than half the stadium. Brett Hodgson has added the goal, 6-0

6:01pm

We're up and running, Lee Briers has kicked off

5:58pm

Hayley Westenra is ripping into the traditional Grand Final hymm Jerusalem.

The players enter the arena to a stunning wall of noise.

This is it. Rip in boys, bring the trophy home to Warrington.

5:53pm

Jonathan Davies has just taken his seat.

He should have been a champion Warrington player in 94 but we were robbed by a Russell Smith penalty in that famous Wigan game.

5:51pm

The red carpet has been rolled out for classical singer Hayley Westenra and the trophy has just been brought out. Just minutes until kick off.

5:49pm

5:48pm

Steve Prescott MBE has just received the match ball from an aerial gymnast and placed it on the halfway line for the big kick off.

We're getting close now.

5:44pm

 

5:41pm

Leeds have been out and warmed up.

Wolves are still doing their thing.

Don't tire yourselves out boys! You'll need every ounce of energy in this place tonight.

5:38pm

5:37pm

QUITE a few ex-Warrington players in the crowd tonight.

Along with Mike Nicholas mentioned earlier, John Fieldhouse, Mark Forster and Norman Turley have been spotted so far.

Ex- England rugby union World Cup winner Jason Robinson is in the main stand too.

I wonder if this fella can bear watching tonight. Maybe Warrington v Wigan next year, hey Sam?

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5:28pm

5:27pm

TONY Smith's men have entered the Theatre of Dreams.
They look mean, lean and focused.
They are running through their pre-match warm-up routine for the last time this season.

5:24pm

Wolfie's such a dude!

He's casually entered the arena in a style of Ben Westwood.

Ronnie the Rhino was like a headless chicken as he exploded out of the tunnel.

It's got the Wolves fans singing again and now the Rhinos are responding.

5:20pm

Moz is 80 minutes from his dream. This was the front page of the Warrington Guardian season preview supplement back in February.

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5:16pm

5:15pm

The atmosphere is building nicely inside Old Trafford with the pitch announcer kicking into his stride.

Just heard the first chants of 'Oh Warry, Warry, Warrington' from the Stretford End.

I think we're all starting to feel a bit giddy here now.

We've all waited a long. long time for this.

The skippers have just entered the field for the coin toss.

Adrian Morley has won the toss and decided to kick off.

5:10pm

CONGRATULATIONS to the 17 selected for Warrington Wolves tonight.

Tough on Garreth Carvell and Tyrone McCarthy, who have been stars through the year for Wolves.

But it is difficult to argue with Tony Smith picking the team that did the job in the semi final at Langtree Park last week.

Leeds have made a couple of changes from the side that lost to Wolves in the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley in August.

Jimmy Keinhorst is injured and so drops out, with Danny McGuire featuring this time after his one match ban saw him miss last week's Leeds win at Wigan.

Stevie Ward drops to the bench.

5:06pm

Tonight's teams:

Leeds Rhinos:

Zak Hardaker; Ben Jones-Bishop, Kallum Watkins, Carl Ablett, Ryan Hall; Danny McGuire, Kevin Sinfield; Kylie Leuluai, Rob Burrow, Jamie Peacock, Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Brett Delaney, Ryan Bailey. Subs: Ian Kirke, Darrell Griffin, Stevie Ward, Shaun Lunt.

5:03pm

Tonight's teams:

Wolves have named same team as against St Helens last week:

Brett Hodgson; Joel Monaghan, Stefan Ratchford, Ryan Atkins, Chris Riley; Lee Briers, Richie Myler; Ben Harrison, Micky Higham, Chris Hill, Ben Westwood, Trent Waterhouse, Simon Grix. Subs: Michael Monaghan, Adrian Morley, Paul Wood, Mike Cooper.

Leeds team to follow

4:59pm

Chris Terris Taylor: "A few grey clouds floating lazily over Old Trafford now, but overall could not have wished for better weather. Perfect conditions for Wolves' expansive playing style."

4:59pm

 

4:59pm

4:58pm

4:53pm

4:17pm

4:16pm

Leaning on a goal post with World Cup winner Nobby Stiles at Old Trafford

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4:14pm

Ready to roar on Wolves in their Guardian scrum caps at Old TraffordImage from PictureGalleryModule_ID:3132242

4:11pm

4:10pm

News editor Gareth Dunning is mixing with the fans outside Old Trafford and has just bumped into former Wolves chairman Doug Hoyle.

Lord Hoyle said: "This is a wonderful day.

"Having seen it from when I took over as chairman in 1999 is great.

"And it is so much down to Tony Smith. I think we can do it but it will be close!"

4:04pm

Remember this from the start of the season? Wolves skipper Adrian Morley was with Saints' Paul Wellens and Widnes' Shaun Briscoe at the pre-season launch at Old Trafford. I reckon he was looking to see where Wolves' name would fit on Grand Final night.

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4:01pm

4:01pm

4:00pm

Barmy Army soaking up the atmosphere at Old Trafford ahead of the Grand FinalImage from PictureGalleryModule_ID:3132242

3:57pm

3:54pm

Warrington Wolves fans dressed to impress at Old Trafford for tonight's historic first Wolves appearance in a Super League Grand FinalImage from PictureGalleryModule_ID:3132242

3:50pm

Mike Nicholas arrives at Old Trafford for the Grand FinalImage from PictureGalleryModule_ID:3132242

3:43pm

3:41pm

3:32pm

THIS is it!

Eighty minutes from Wolves paradise.

The atmosphere is building outside Old Trafford, primrose and blue everywhere from about 1pm.

Of course, the colours on display represent both teams and the spectacle outside shows it's going to be an incredible atmosphere inside the Theatre of Dreams tonight.

Mike Nicholas, the Welsh back rower who was a member of the all-conquering Warrington team of 1973/74 (apart from being the title winners, was among the early arrivals for tonight's glory shot.

"I think they'll do it," he said.

"You could see it in the players after the win against Saints, the way Briersy was punching the air."

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