Leeds coach Lois Forsell says her players are gutted to lose the Challenge Cup final, but insists they have gave it everything against St Helens.

Saints staged an impressive second-half comeback to beat the Rhinos 18-8 at Elland Road and retain the trophy.

Eboni Partington scored two tries in the 10-point win.

Leeds started strongly, but St Helens lifted late to fight back and secure victory.

Despite the tight defeat, Forsell remained positive.

“The players did what we asked them today,” she said.

“But we are really proud of the girls and we’ll learn a lot from it.

📹 Highlights | @LeedsRhinos 8-18 @Saints1890Women

🏆 @Saints1890Women fought from behind to retain their @Betfred Women's #ChallengeCup title at @EllandRoad… pic.twitter.com/YWNa8CaVLL

— Betfred Challenge Cup (@TheChallengeCup) May 7, 2022

“We know there’s areas with the ball we didn’t capitalise on.”

Leeds were ahead 8-4 at half-time but St Helens rallied in the second period to claim back-to-back Cup trophies.

“We ran Saints real close,” Forsell admitted.

“That’s not what we came here to do, we wanted to win.

“We’re massively, massively proud of the performance.

“It’s frustrating for them [my team] that it wasn’t enough today. They gave it everything.”

Forsell believes the tight nature of the contest shows that St Helens are not invincible.

“We’ll build on this,” she said.

“Saints a great team but they are beatable.”