WARRINGTON Wolves needed two late tries to overcome Championship side Widnes in a thrilling Cheshire derby in the Challenge Cup.
Ben Currie snapped up George Williams’ bouncing kick seven minutes from time to break the 16-all stalemate, before Zane Musgrove powered over in the final minute to seal a 26-16 win.
But the scoreline flattered the Wolves after the part-time outfit had twice held the lead in front of a 7,011 crowd in the first competitive meeting between the two sides in seven years.
Danny Langtree crashed over to give Widnes a fifth minute lead, and they had two glorious chances to extend it – Rhodri Lloyd being felled five metres short after scooping up a loose ball on half way, and then Ryan Ince knocked on inches short of the try line as he tried to pick up Tom Gilmore’s kick.
Neat footwork and an offload by George Williams put Adam Holroyd in as Warrington finally got on the board on 32 minutes, and they took the lead on the last play of the first half – Widnes failing to see off two cross-field kicks, the second of which fell for Josh Thewlis to squeeze in at the corner.
Any thought that the game was done at 10-6 to Warrington was soon put to bed by a blistering start to the second half by Widnes.
On their first set of possession, Mike Butt and Matt Fleming combined down the right for the latter to score a 60 metres effort to level the score.
Warrington should have responded a few minutes later, Ben Currie and Alfie Johnson getting past Butt and Fleming, only for Johnson to loose the ball as he brought it round trying to make the conversion easier, Butt getting back to dislodge it from his grasp for a real howler.
That buoyed Widnes, and after forcing a drop out, they crossed when Jack Owens took a Gilmore inside ball to the try line, and they led once more, 16-10.
They held the lead for more than 10 minutes, eventually being broken when Max Wood, who has played three times for Widnes on dual-registration in recent weeks, brushed off a tackle to score by the posts.
Although Warrington had control of the middle, they couldn’t break Widnes down until seven minutes from the end, Thewlis keeping alive a loose ball on the touchline and from the next tackle, Williams’ kick found the ground and bounced fortunately for Currie to take to the line.
The quarter-final draw is on Monday.
Widnes: Owens, Butt, Fleming, Roberts, Ince, Patton, Gilmore, Murray, Fozard, Reilly, Lloyd, Langtree, Gregson. Subs: Lyons, Lannon, Bent, Bennion.
Warrington: Taylor-Wray, Thewlis, Currie, Tai, Johnson, Williams, Ratchford, Vaughan, Walker, Musgrove, Holroyd, Russell, Harrison. Subs: Powell, Philbin, Crowther, Wood.
