Bridge inspires Wolves' victory

WARRINGTON Wolves suffered no Challenge Cup party hangover as centre Chris Bridge returned from injury to help inspire a 22-36 victory against Harlequins at The Stoop.
Despite resting five of their Wembley winning line-up including Skipper Adrian Morley, Lance Todd winner Lee Briers and Player of the Year Ben Westwood, the Wolves still had too much firepower.
Warrington must now hope victory was enough to secure them second place in the table heading into the play-offs, with St Helens facing Castleford needing to win by eight points to secure an all important home advantage.
Centre Bridge (pictured) was the star man for the Wolves scoring two tries and kicking six goals.
But it was the Quins, looking for a winning send off for Coach Brian McDermott, who took the lead inside six minutes when Andy Ellis burrowed over from close range after Olsi Krasniqi was held just short.Their lead was quickly increased, as Luke Gale and David Howell sliced open the Wolves defence, allowing Luke Dorn to scorch over the line.
But Warrington hit back kicking to the corner from a penalty and from the resulting possession Jon Clarke squeezed over.
The visitors then came close to drawing level, but a superb last-ditch tackle from Jamie O’Callaghan stopped Chris Hicks from going in at the corner.
But David Solomona made no mistake shortly afterwards as Warrington got their reward for a spell of sustained pressure.
Suddenly the Wolves had the upper hand and it was only some impressive close-range defence from the hosts that kept them out.
Warrington should have gone ahead on the half-hour when Vinnie Anderson burst clear, but Richie Myler spilled the ball with the line at his mercy.
Warrington took the lead for the first time just before the break as first Mike Cooper and then Bridge, went over.
Back came the Quins after the break, Dorn gratefully pocketing a loose pass from Monaghan to stroll over under the sticks.
Warrington steadied the ship once more when Solomona bulldozed over for his second try on 55 minutes, brushing aside four would-be tacklers to score.
The game was over as a contest just after the hour when Bridge intercepted a poor Dorn pass to race clear.
But Quin’s Dorn was not to be denied his hat-trick as he went over in the corner.
After the match Wolves’ Head of Coaching Tony Smith said: “I thought overall we did a
terrific job. We did not have the best of preparations as we had quite a bit of celebrating to do during the week, but the boys really stuck at it.
“We showed some real toughness of character and a real desire to scramble in defence. Quins really came at us and it was an expansive game. They are a dangerous side to play against and our commitment was superb.
“I expected us to be disjointed at times and we were, but we still dug in and got the win.
“We have been consistent all year, and after 27 rounds we have deserved to test ourselves in the play-offs.
“It will be a real challenge for us but we are all looking forward to it.”