An informal ceremony took place on the eve of the big match when, on behalf of the board, Saints director Eric Latham presented Eric Ashton with a commemorative rose bowl to mark his captaincy, coaching and chairmanship of teams at Wembley.

Saints' suffered a Wembley scare 48 hours before the kick-off when physiotherapist Janette Smith sprained her ankle on the car park of the hotel where the team was based. Self-administered treatment did the trick, and bubbly Janette was happily declared fit to take her place.

Saints chose the hallowed fields of famous public school Eton for their pre-Wembley warm-up session on Friday.

On-field injury concerns centred on loose-forward Andy Northey who suffered a groin strain in the first half which will sideline him for a fortnight. Substitute Tommy Martyn was also in the wars and it was first feared that it was a re-occurence of his old knee damage, but the problem was later diagnosed as a 'dead' leg.

The special train which took supporters to Wembley from St. Helens Junction proudly bore the inscription 'Bobby' on its nameplate!

Vice-chairman Tom Ellard and director Joe Pickavance had to be content with television viewing due to health problems, and no doubt they are feeling much better now, in particular Mr. Pickavance, whose grandson Ian was among the Saints' try-scorers.

Management of the Marriott Hotel, Heathrow, where Saints' held their victory banquet, have told the team they are welcome any time following their exemplary behaviour.

Local coach firm David Ogden Tours told the Star: 'We took around 2,000 fans without a single incident, so congratulations to all and let's have the same again next year.' Saints will release a special Wembley video today, Thursday, entitled 'The Ultimate Comeback,' price £12.99, post and packing £1.50. A Wembley tee-shirt will also be on sale at the club shop which will remain open until 8pm tonight.

Skipper Bobbie Goulding: 'I was still confident even when we were 26-12 behind, because Saints had a secret weapon in my 'bombs, which we had practised all week because of the vulnerability of Bradford full-back Nathan Graham.

'I was obviously not happy with my goal-kicking, but it's a funny old business because I couldn't miss at Halifax just six days earlier, so whether you are a hero or villain largely depends on whether they go over or not.'

Steve Prescott: 'I thought I was in the running for the Lance Todd Trophy and the £10,000 special award after scoring two tries early on and being cheated by the cross-bar for a third, but at the end of the day Bradford's Robbie Paul was a worthy winner.'

Former Saint Bernard Dwyer, who scored a try for the Bulls' and by comment consent was also in line for the Lance Todd Trophy: 'I am not concerned too much about individual awards, and like other ex-Saints Paul Loughlin and Sonny Nickle, we thought Bradford had the game in the bag and were gutted by the way things turned out.

'It was a very emotional time for all three of us, and we were greatly moved by the tremendous reception the Saints fans gave us.'

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.