Danny McGuire put in an outstanding performance as Leeds ended their 11-year wait for a trip to Wembley in dramatic fashion by edging an epic Challenge Cup semi-final against old foes St Helens yesterday. McGuire scored two second-half tries as Leeds twice came from behind to beat the Saints 32-28. The stand-off's double took his career tally past 200 but he had little chance to savour his achievement in a nerve-shredding finale.
He said: "It was pretty tense, it was see-saw action in the second half. "We put one on their chin, they put one on our chin. Saints were missing a few players and they played well, but we just had that desire to achieve." In the NRL, South Sydney pulled off stunning 34-30 golden point extra-time win over the Wests Tigers yesterday to keep their season alive. Dylan Farrell, the debutant centre, completed a hat-trick in the final seconds of the extra period after both sides had at least eight drop goal attempts each but failed to secure a result.
The scores were locked at 30-30 after South's John Sutton scored in the 77th minute and Chris Sandow coolly converted. The New Zealand Warriors took another step towards a return to the finals after crushing the Cronulla Sharks 37-10. Clinging to eighth spot after back-to-back losses, the Warriors broke free from an early arm wrestle to run away convincing winners. Bill Tupou, the rookie winger, was the star of the show with a hat-trick - his first tries in the top grade.
The Manly Sea Eagles reignited their play-off ambitions with a 26-6 win over the Melbourne Storm. The four tries to one victory lifted the Sea Eagles back into sixth on the ladder with four games to play as well as sending most of the 12,550 fans at Brookvale Oval home with plenty to smile about. * Agencies
