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St Helens 25 Warrington Wolves 14
WARRINGTON missed a great chance of toppling cup favourites St Helens at Knowsley Road in this Challenge Cup quarter Final clash.
The Saints underperformed and were trailing 4-12 at the interval as the Wolves ran in tries from Kevin Penny and Henry fa'afili, both goaled by Briers.
But it was the same old story in the second half as the Wolves faded after an hour and allowed the home side to make amends for their poor first half performance.
Warrington had the worst possible start as Saints went ahead after a minute with a try from Lee Gilmour.
The try was scored as Wolves Prop Adrian Morley was being led from the field "dazed and confused" after clashing heads with former Wire packman Nick Fozzard in the opening seconds.
The Wolves rallied and went close twice, both times squandering golden scoring opportunities.
First, Fa'afili wasted a two-on-one overlap with a mistimed pass to his winger, before Ben Westwood dropped a ball with a gaping view of the try-line in front of him.
Saints upped their intensity around the 20-minute mark but Warrington defended staunchly before hitting back with Penny's stunning solo effort down the wing.
Penny took the ball tight on the left touchline and his impressive pace took him past the despairing tackles of Matt Gidley, Gardner and Paul Wellens.
Lee Briers converted and four minutes late Warrington stretched further clear when Fa'afili dummied his way over from close range.
St Helens immediately cut the deficit after the break when Francis Meli caught Long's cross-kick into the corner and offloaded to the supporting Talau to score.
Saints built on their momentum and soon put Gardner over in the right corner after a flowing move upfield to level the scores.
Briers added a penalty on 52 minutes to nose the Wolves infront but the home side roared back into the lead when a good break from Jon Wilkin, and support from Sean Long, sent Gilmour under the posts.
Wellens opened the gap with a penalty and Long edged the lead to seven points with a late drop inside the last 10 minutes before Roby scampered over to remove any doubt.
Warrington coach Paul Cullen on losing Morley: "It certainly tested our character and I thought the way the players responded was absolutely magnificent. To suffer that and go in front at half-time was certainly remarkable.
"The guys refused to give in. I thought defensively it was a massive effort. We were a couple of players short of achieving our goal.
"We came here to win the game - that was very evident about the way we went about our business - and we're gutted that we're going home without it."
Wolves miss
great chance
by Gary Skentelbery
WARRINGTON missed a great chance of toppling cup favourites St Helens at Knowsley Road in this Challenge Cup quarter Final clash.
The Saints underperformed and were trailing 4-12 at the interval as the Wolves ran in tries from Kevin Penny and Henry fa'afili, both goaled by Briers.
But it was the same old story in the second half as the Wolves faded after an hour and allowed the home side to make amends for their poor first half performance.
Warrington had the worst possible start as Saints went ahead after a minute with a try from Lee Gilmour.
The try was scored as Wolves Prop Adrian Morley was being led from the field "dazed and confused" after clashing heads with former Wire packman Nick Fozzard in the opening seconds.
The Wolves rallied and went close twice, both times squandering golden scoring opportunities.
First, Fa'afili wasted a two-on-one overlap with a mistimed pass to his winger, before Ben Westwood dropped a ball with a gaping view of the try-line in front of him.
Saints upped their intensity around the 20-minute mark but Warrington defended staunchly before hitting back with Penny's stunning solo effort down the wing.
Penny took the ball tight on the left touchline and his impressive pace took him past the despairing tackles of Matt Gidley, Gardner and Paul Wellens.
Lee Briers converted and four minutes late Warrington stretched further clear when Fa'afili dummied his way over from close range.
St Helens immediately cut the deficit after the break when Francis Meli caught Long's cross-kick into the corner and offloaded to the supporting Talau to score.
Saints built on their momentum and soon put Gardner over in the right corner after a flowing move upfield to level the scores.
Briers added a penalty on 52 minutes to nose the Wolves infront but the home side roared back into the lead when a good break from Jon Wilkin, and support from Sean Long, sent Gilmour under the posts.
Wellens opened the gap with a penalty and Long edged the lead to seven points with a late drop inside the last 10 minutes before Roby scampered over to remove any doubt.
Warrington coach Paul Cullen on losing Morley: "It certainly tested our character and I thought the way the players responded was absolutely magnificent. To suffer that and go in front at half-time was certainly remarkable.
"The guys refused to give in. I thought defensively it was a massive effort. We were a couple of players short of achieving our goal.
"We came here to win the game - that was very evident about the way we went about our business - and we're gutted that we're going home without it."
