The Road to Wembley - Part 7

Challenge Cup Quarter Final

Warrington Wolves 20 Widnes Vikings 18 - Friday, 24 June 2016

After weeks of build-up and anticipation the Quarter Finals finally arrived and with it a second trip to a Super League ground this season.  The Halliwell Jones Stadium was the venue and the Vikings were the visitors in what was billed to be a blistering local derby between Warrington and Widnes.

A lot has changed in the seven weeks since Warrington comfortably saw off a spirited Oldham side in Round 6.  The Wolves have dropped two places to third in the Super League table with Hull FC taking their place at the top and Wigan leapfrogging them into second during that time.  Widnes on the other hand have stumbled since their early season blitz with just two wins from six games since their win over Halifax in the previous round but sit comfortably in eighth place in the table.

Having been accompanied by a friend in the last round I offered out the chance to come along with me to this game and, for the first time this season, my old man took up the offer.  As the ground wasn’t too far from home the wife agreed to spend an evening in M&S with my mother whilst dad and I enjoyed an evening at the rugby (seemed fair to us!).

As I needed to pick up the tickets before the game we got to the Halliwell Jones in plenty of time and my dad even managed to blag a parking spot literally outside the doors of the club shop where the ticket office was located (“if you don’t ask, you don’t get” was his quip).  A quick snap of the outside of the ground was taken and off we went through the South Stand turnstiles.

There was a good 45 minutes to kick off by the time we had made our way into the stand and that gave us time to have a look at the very impressive club history that had been laid out on huge boards right down the full length of the stand.  It was great to spend a bit of time reading some of the illustrious histories of one of the oldest rugby league clubs in the country and I was so engrossed that I almost missed Jonathan Davies making his way through to the BBC commentary box!  Unfortunately I missed a great chance to try and get a ‘selfie’ with him.

Being a rugby man all his life my dad was enjoying looking round at the blokes walking through the stand suited and booted trying to remember if and where he knew them from.

As we were finishing our pre-match pint a young Warrington supporter walked past and out into the stand with a rather large drum to take up his usual spot and my dad looked at me and insisted that “we’re not standing anywhere near him!”  Luckily he was stood at the other end of the stand and we took up a position near the half way line.

It was at this point that my dad realised he had made a major wardrobe error.  He was standing in the middle of thousands of Wolves fans wearing a black and white striped t-shirt!!  I therefore told him to keep his coat on and then jokingly reassured him that if anything did kick off, he shouldn’t need to worry about me as I’ll be the first one to run away.

Even before kick off the atmosphere was rocking as the near 7,800 Wolves and Vikings fans were giving as much as they got from each other in songs and chants.  The visiting fans were all congregated in the West Stand terraces and were playfully using Warrington’s drum beats to enjoy chants of their own throughout the game.

After both club’s mascots had got the crowd going even further the teams came out and I was particularly looking forward to seeing Chris Sandow for the Wolves as he was out injured in the last round against Oldham.  The game was billed to be a close encounter and it certainly lived up to it.  Despite Warrington taking an early lead the breakaway blitz I was kind of expecting didn’t happen and two quick tries turned the tide in the visitors favour and the Wolves fans congregated around us were almost stunned into silence.  Was another Challenge Cup upset on the cards?  Thankfully not, as another unconverted try four minutes before the break saw the home side trail 10-12 at half time and it was game on for the second half.

Being stood in a packed terrace it was handy during the game to lean against the bar and stand on the step behind to get a bit of extra height to see over any taller people further down and get a full view of the big screen situated at the far end of the South Stand for any big decisions.  Unfortunately, the poor bloke behind me joked that he would bill me for new feet after the amount of times I accidently stood on his squeaky-clean trainers.

One of those decisions came early in the second half and for the first time this season I was able to witness a decision by the video ref and it culminated in a disallowed try for Warrington.  Luckily, ten minutes later, they had equalised through a penalty and soon after they took the lead again thanks to another converted try.  With only six points between the two sides it was inevitable that Widnes would score again, and they did to make the game very interesting at 18-all with just over ten minutes to go.

There were no further tries but it took a final Kurt Gidley penalty to seal the victory and send the Wolves into the final four.

My Road to Wembley has taken me on an unsuspecting journey to six different grounds that I wouldn’t normally have gone to over the last few months right across the north of England.  I have been lucky to avoid any last-minute, hastily arranged, trips to France in the process so, as a re-cap, here are the places I’ve been to on my Challenge Cup journey in 2016...

Round 1 – Leigh Miners Rangers 14 Underbank Rangers 20 – Twist Lane

Round 2 – Kells 42 Underbank Rangers 6 – Old Arrowthwaite

Round 3 – Kells 12 Hemel Stags 6 – Copeland Stadium

Round 4 – Oldham Roughyeds 40 Kells 6 – Bower Fold

Round 5 – Hull Kingston Rovers 22 Oldham Roughyeds 36 – KC Lightstream Stadium

Round 6 – Oldham Roughyeds 10 Warrington Wolves 70 – Bower Fold

Quarter Finals – Warrington Wolves 20 Widnes Vikings 18 – Halliwell Jones Stadium

Semi Finals - TBC...