Challenge Cup: Leigh 12-10 St Helens - Leopards hold on to reach Wembley final

Leigh Leopards beat St Helens in a Challenge Cup classic to reach the final for the first time since 1971.

Saints led 6-0 at the break through Joey Lussick's try after Tommy Makinson missed a late penalty goal attempt.

Oliver Holmes and Zak Hardaker crossed to put Leigh in front before Saints forward Sione Mata'utia was sin-binned.

Jonny Lomax's late score pulled it back to 12-10 but Makinson could not add the extras from out wide and force golden point, sending the Leopards to Wembley.

Leigh will face either Hull KR or Wigan Warriors on Saturday, 12 August, with the second semi-final being played at 17:00 BST on Sunday.

• Relive Leigh's victory over St Helens

After Ben Reynolds had kicked Leigh into a six-point lead with just under 20 minutes remaining, the Leopards came under increasing pressure in the closing stages.

A kick from Lomax on the fifth tackle went dead but an offside gave Saints a repeat set of six, and Konrad Hurrell and Makinson were both held up in the in-goal area by a determined defence.

Hardaker raced back to tackle England half-back Lomax with the line gaping and Agnatius Paasi was stopped a metre short before Lomax crossed from a Jack Welsby pass with just two minutes remaining.

However, Makinson missed his conversion attempt to the right of the posts and Leigh, promoted from the Championship last season and rebranded from the Centurions, saw out the final 33 seconds to clinch a trip to north London.

Owner Derek Beaumont, wearing a leopard-print jacket, joined the playing squad on the pitch for memorable celebrations in front of their fans at Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington.

Leigh Leopards sit second in Super League after winning the Championship and the 1895 Cup last season

Saints dominate first half

Leigh had won 12 of their past 13 games heading into the match but were immediately on the back foot against a Saints side who have won the past four Grand Finals and the world club title but are below the Leopards in the Super League table.

Lussick eventually got the breakthrough when the hooker powered in between Edwin Ipape and Tom Amone from close range in the 19th minute.

A brilliant 40/20 kick from Lussick on the third tackle gave Saints the platform to add to their lead, but first Alex Walmsley and then Lussick were held up.

A dogged Leigh defensive display in the first half was epitomised by Josh Charnley's last-gasp tackle to deny Makinson an acrobatic try in the corner in the 27th minute.

Another promising attacking opening was wasted by a forward pass from Lomax, and Makinson missed the chance to make it 8-0 right at the end of the first half after Amone was penalised for stripping the ball. The Saints winger skewed his kick to the right of the posts.

Leigh transformed after break

Oliver Holmes crossed in the third minute of the second half to begin Leigh's fightback

Leigh returned full of energy after the interval and two moments of quality from Lachlan Lam, son of Leopards coach Adrian, helped turn the game in their favour.

First a penalty gave them the field position to move forward and Lam's well-timed pass allowed Holmes to find a gap in the line and race through for a try, with Reynolds showing composure to add the extras and level the match in the 44th minute.

Then half-back Lam put a perfectly weighted grubber kick into Saints' in-goal area and, after Tom Briscoe had out-muscled Saints winger Tee Ritson in a bid to touch down, Hardaker dived on the loose ball to notch Leigh's second try.

Reynolds missed the kick from out wide on the right but did stretch the lead to six points with a penalty kick after taking a late tackle from Mata'utia, who was shown a yellow card.

Then came waves of Saints attacks, but Leigh showed the character that has epitomised their performances so far this season to give a new generation of fans a trip to a Challenge Cup final 52 years after victory over Leeds on their last outing at Wembley.

Leigh Leopards boss Adrian Lam told BBC One:

"I'm very proud of the efforts of everyone and it's a special moment for the town, which hasn't had much to cheer about.

"I'm happy for the owner Derek Beaumont and the staff involved.

"It took a mighty effort to beat the world champions and that's what it was."

St Helens head coach Paul Wellens told BBC One:

"In big games like that there are small margins and you can probably point to a lot of things during the course of the game.

"I want to congratulate Leigh, the journey they have been on as a club to get to Wembley in their first season back in Super League is really special for them.

"Games like this can turn pretty quickly. We got opened up on our right edge at the start of the second half and that was a momentum shift.

"I really enjoyed the way our guys stuck at it and finished the game strongly, but the same as last week [against Catalans] we're on the wrong end of the result."

Leigh: O'Brien, Briscoe, Hardaker, Chamberlain, Charnley, Reynolds, Lam, Mulhern, Ipape, Amone, Hughes, Holmes, Asiata.

Interchanges: Davis, Nakubuwai, Mellor, Wilde.

St Helens: Welsby, Makinson, Hurrell, Hopoate, Ritson, Lomax, Dodd, Walmsley, Lussick, Lees, Mata'utia, Bell, Knowles.

Interchanges: McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Paasi, Davies, Delaney.

Sin-bin: Mata'utia (61).

Referee: Chris Kendall.