SECOND-HALF tries from Stefan Ratchford and Tom Lineham have booked Wolves a place in the Grand Final at Old Trafford.

Wolves fought back from 10-8 behind at the break as they defeated Saints on home soil for only the second time in 20 meetings at The Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Ratchford, making his 150th Wolves appearance, notched his 99th career try to put Wolves back in front and it was his searching pass that fed comeback kid Lineham for his third try in two games that proved decisive in a bruising and tense semi final.

Warrington Guardian:

It means The Wire will have a shot to end 61 years without a championship title when they face Hull FC or Wigan Warriors at the Theatre of Dreams on Saturday, October 8.

The players ran their blood to water to secure a first Grand Final spot since 2013’s loss to Wigan and keep hopes alive of a second piece of silverware after having finished top of the league too.

There was little between the sides in the opening quarter, but Wolves took an 8-2 lead before conceding eight points in the final three minutes of the first half.

Dec Patton booted Wolves in front with a 40-metre penalty goal after 20 minutes, the result of a ball steal by Joe Greenwood on Ashton Sims.

Saints responded in kind through Luke Walsh from 10 metres after Joe Westerman was deemed guilty of holding down Alex Walmsley from Saints’ first threatening attack.

The Wire had a let off when Adam Swift hared over in the corner after Stefan Ratchford spilled the ball from a kick return but the video referee Joe Cobb alerted Ben Thaler to a high tackle from Mark Percival in the first instance.

Salt was rubbed into the wounds being licked by Saints when Kurt Gidley shot through a hole in the trail of Chris Hill’s bullocking run to notch the opening try in the 30th minute, with Patton converting.

The lead lasted only eight minutes, with Saints breaking away from halfway through Swift off a Jordan Turner offload. Swift had Lomax on his inside to finish off and Walsh’s conversion levelled the scores.

On the hooter Thaler thought he saw interference at a play-the-ball and Walsh fired Saints into the lead for the first time from 40 metres out.

First scoring chance of the second half fell Wolves’ way from a last-tackle kick that was allowed to bounce and after Gidley regathered Evans tried to dance over by the corner post but was bundled into touch by Swift.

And then Clark was held up inches short on the right and from the resulting penalty for offside on the next tackle Wolves made their pressure count.

After Patton was stopped 10 metres out, Ratchford was fast out of dummy half and kept his body low to dart beneath the covering defence of Atelea Vea for his 99th career try.

Warrington Guardian:

With Patton converting, Wolves were back in front at 14-10.

Tom Lineham chased down Swift to prevent a breakaway down the right, reminiscent of his two try-saving tackles against Hull a week earlier as Wolves clinched the League Leaders’ Shield.

Wolves started to show signs of losing composure, Morgan Smith being caught with the ball on the last tackle without a kick being put in and on the next set the ball found its way to Ashton Sims to complete with a kick.

Saints could not capitalise, failed to complete their own next set and Wolves took advantage of a penalty for holding down.

The ball was swept to the right where Ratchford missed out Evans to put Lineham over in the corner.

Patton’s touchline conversion dropped short but Wolves had some breathing space at 18-10 after 64 minutes.

Saints needed a way back in and it came when Patton fumbled on the last tackle on his own 35-metre line.

Wolves had to be strong on their own line and gained some relief when Toby King snaffled up James Roby’s grubber kick.

Saints came firing back though and gained six more tackles when Lineham dropped Luke Walsh’s high kick, and then Evans was penalised for holding down as the pressure mounted.

A poor Lomax kick was retrieved by Evans and play was all getting frantic, particularly with Thaler’s reluctance to penalise for offsides at the play-the-ball.

A penalty did come Wire’s way and a strong set was completed by Patton rolling the ball into touch to help wind down the clock.

Saints threw everything at Wire as the countdown clock reached three minutes, and there was a huge sigh of relief when Roby’s inside pass looked certain to hand Greenwood a try but a deflection saved the day.

Dominique Peyroux was ruled short of the line, his path blocked by Atkins with 90 seconds remaining.

It was the last chance Saints had of rescuing the game and as the final hooter sounded the Wire players and fans went bananas in tandem.

Bring on Old Trafford – it’s always our year!