CHALLENGE CUP FINAL REDEMP

DARYL CLARK laid to rest personal and team horror stories with a sensational Challenge Cup final performance.

Nobody has suffered more in major finals than the hooker with three defeats in three visits to Wembley.

But that – plus Warrington’s six successive defeats in all finals in the last seven years – were all banished here.

Special

The Man of the Match said: “I have been here three times and lost them all and it is heartbreaking so to finally get my hands on the cup is special.

“To win the Lance Todd trophy tops it off. We were massive underdogs and we slid under the radar but I had a good feeling all week that we could do it.”

The England star, who had previously lost twice with Wolves and once with Castleford, added: “We made a pact in the week that we were going to leave everything out there and we did that.”

Justin Holbrook said in the run-up to the final that the pain of last year’s cup and Super League semi-finals would haunt him for 40 years.

Well, this devastating defeat will be a living nightmare that will hurt him far more deeply and longer.

His Saints struggled to cope with their huge favourites tag and were always chasing the game.

They also suffered two strokes of bad luck, particularly with Morgan Knowles wrongly getting an early try disallowed, with Robert Hicks not asking for it to be checked by the video official.

Holbrook said: “I would be filthy if that was just a regular round but I cannot g e t my head around not checking that in a final.

“It may sound like sour grapes but we should not be talking about something like that.