Pilkington has won at Wembley

In a dogged but nonetheless thrilling rugby league Challenge Cup Final, the Saints showed their superiority over a brave Catalan Dragons, with a score of 30 to 8.

The match, played before a capacity stadium audience of more than 80,000 and armchair supporters numbering as many as 3 million, saw Saints, resplendent in their traditional red V shirts bearing the Pilkington Activ logo, struggle to make headway against the Dragons for the most of the first half. However, three tries in quick succession in the last minutes before the break, saw the teams leave the field with Saints leading 12-6.

However, Saints superiority and confidence grew steadily in the second half to see them grind out a final score of 30 points to the Dragons' 8, adding further weight to the popular view that Saints enjoy world-wide superiority in the sport at club level.

The Saints' win also supports the move by Pilkington- which has enjoyed a relationship with its St Helens neighbour off and on for more than 130 years- to step in as shirt sponsors for the team's late key Challenge Cup efforts, and for the Super League play-off final, should they continue to dominate the league.

So far the Pilkington Activ brand has been displayed on The Saints' shirts in front of more than 100,000 stadium fans, as many as 6 million TV viewers and countless newspaper sports section readers- with more to come, if The Saints reach the Old Trafford Super League fixture in the autumn.

Said marketing communications manager Julia Berkin: " This has been a marvellous opportunity to get the Pilkington Activ brand in front of millions more homeowners, and the exercise has been a great success, especially for those Pilkington staff who are avid Saints fans. We will now be cheering Saints on for the rest of the season to reach the Super League Final."