Nobody can say Saints have had an easy route through to the Millennium Stadium.

Ian Millward's men have had to face Super League

opposition at every stage.

Mike Critchley looks how the road to Cardiff mapped out.

ROUND 4

BRADFORD BULLS 10 SAINTS 30

Few of the game's followers away from Knowsley Road gave Saints much of a chance when their name followed that of the reigning Super League champions out of the hat for the fourth round draw.

The Bulls, buoyant after adding the World Club Challenge trophy to their sideboard, were tipped by some to steamroller Saints, just as they had done to Aussie champs Penrith Panthers a fortnight previously.

But Saints executed the perfect game plan to neutralise the threat of their bigger opponents.

They picked holes in the Bulls weak spots, with Sean Long and Paul Sculthorpe kicking with slide rule perfection making the big men stop and turn.

And added to that was the most aggressive of chases which forced the Bulls to drop out on a number of occasions.

Saints played the game at pace - with quick play the balls putting the skids under a Bradford side expecting a war of attrition on their own Odsal pitch.

There is no substitute for pace - but Saints even had it in the front row with impressive Mark Edmondson latching onto a neat off-load from Nick Fozzard to race 60 metres for the opening try.

In a game of many highlights, Lee Gilmour, playing against the side that relegated him to an almost permanent substitute crossed for a brilliantly executed score.

The Great Britain second rower was able to virtually pick his own spot after Paul Sculthorpe and Willie Talau had combined in a move straight off the training ground.

Saints, not for the first time, simply out-thought, out-muscled and out-played Bradford in a crunch game.

No wonder the travelling fans left Odsal singing: "Can we play you every week?"

Saints tries: Long, Edmondson, Gleeson, Gilmour, Sculthorpe. Goals: Long (4), Sculthorpe.

ROUND 5

SAINTS 24 LEEDS 14

The cup draw paired Saints with the Leeds side that had dashed their cup hopes at the semi-final stage last year.

Once again this was another nail-biting classic to keep Grandstand viewers on the edge of their seats.

Although the game was packed with incident and running rugby, the key to victory was a determined defensive effort, which saw Saints dig deep into their reserves of stamina in the critical final quarter. The match was delicately poised - 18-14 in Saints' favour - when Sean Long drilled a kick downfield.

After a game as energy sapping as this, a half-hearted chase could have been forgiven.

But Saints were having none of it with a tremendous tackling stint that stopped the Loiners breaking out of their 20 metre zone, giving them little chance of a decent, pressure relieving kick.

It lifted Saints - and in the next but one passage of play substitute Jon Wilkin magnificently picked up a loose ball to send Willie Talau roaring over for the match winner to spark scenes of wild jubilation on the terraces.

Saints tries: Wellens (2), Feaunati, Talau. Goals: Long (4)

ROUND 6

SAINTS 31 HULL 26

Big game experience proved vital - with skipper Paul Sculthorpe's late drop goal and try being the only difference between the teams at the end of a gripping 80 minutes of action.

With the scores deadlocked at 26 all Hull's Paul Cooke crucially failed in his two stabs at the uprights - although credit to Saints for the pressure they applied in the build up to those attempts.

Sculthorpe had no such misfortune when he got within range of the posts nine minutes from time.

And even though Sculthorpe was able to grab a late try - the missed conversion kept home fans on the edge of their seats until that final blast from the hooter. It had been one of those games!

In another tit-for-tat game, Saints gave the visitors a 12 point start before they finally got into their stride.

In a magnificent team effort, key men Sculthorpe, Long and Cunningham stood out and prop Nick Fozzard led from the front for 77 minutes.

Saints tries: Hooper (2), Long, Sculthorpe, Cunningham. G: Long (5). DG: Sculthorpe.

SEMI-FINAL

SAINTS 46

HUDDERSFIELD 6

Sean Long gave another masterful display to guide Saints to the Millennium Stadium for the first time. The pressure he piled onto the Giants yielded two early scores, which left the Giants chasing the game and forced them into even more errors.

Saints' opening score came from a bobbling Long grubber, touched down by Keiron Cunningham and the scrum half capped a man of the match winning performance with a solo try on 50 minutes.

The mercurial number seven picked up a loose ball, turning defenders inside out on his darting 30 metre run to the line.

Ade Gardner's two tries were another highlight of this one-sided encounter - the second being a magnificent 75 try solo effort which saw him round highly rated full back Paul Reilly with ease.

Saints scorers: Gardner (2), Hooper (2), Long, Cunningham, Gilmour, Talau. Goals: Long (3), Sculthorpe (4).