WARRINGTON Wolves’ hopes of reaching Wembley for a third successive season were brought to an end with a Challenge Cup semi-final defeat to Hull KR.
A dominant opening quarter by the Robins, who beat Sam Burgess’ side in the final last season, got them in control of the match and they rarely looked like surrendering.
The opening try went to James Batchelor, coasting through a gap 10 metres out off Tyrone May’s pass before a penalty conceded by James Bentley enabled the Robins to go 8-0 in front.
A superb tackle by Josh Thewlis denied Joe Burgess in the left corner, but Burgess had better luck on a second attempt, finishing acrobatically after taking on Mikey Lewis’ pass.
Warrington simply couldn’t get any ball in their opponent’s half, though they earned a lifeline five minutes before half time.
A kick to the in-goal was fumbled as Mikey Lewis and Jack Broadbent collided attempting to catch, gifting Ben Currie the opportunity to ground the ball.
The second half started with two inconclusive captain challenge calls, stifling’s Warrington threat, though they did have a good look at the Hull KR line after Currie had gone close.
But then two challenges at the other end proved Warrington’s final undoing. First, a knock on call against Hull KR was successfully challenged, with the video referee ruling that Thewlis had knocked on instead, and from the resulting scrum 20 metres out, Oliver Gildart brushed off Josh Smith to score.
Although Rhyse Martin’s missed conversion meant it remained a two-score game at 18-6, he would soon be presented a chance to add two with a penalty goal after another captain’s challenge. This time, a penalty had been awarded in Warrington’s favour, only for the video replay to find that Peta Hiku had been pushed in to causing the offence by Marc Sneyd.
At 20-6 with 15 minutes to play, it was a mountain to climb for Warrington, and they conceded twice more to Burgess and Batchelor, either side of Sam Stone’s touchdown in a rare foray forward. That Wolves try came from Kelepi Tanginoa’s break down the left, and Matty Ashton’s kick through sat up for Stone to score.
Hull KR will now face Wigan, who battered St Helens 32-0 at the Halliwell Jones Stadium yesterday, in the final at Wembley on May 30.
Warrington: Thewlis, Hopoate, Smith, King, Ashton, Irwin, Sneyd, Byrne, Walker, Sipley, Bentley, Stone, Currie. Subs: Yates, Crowther, Philbin, Tanginoa.
Hull KR: Broadbent, Davies, Hiku, Gildart, Burgess, Lewis, May, Sue, Lawton, Amone, Hadley, Batchelor, Minchella. Subs: Litten, Luckley, Whitbread, Martin
