The Road to Wembley - Part 8

Challenge Cup Semi Final

Warrington Wolves 56 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 12 - Saturday, 30 July 2016

This was Semi Final day and from the moment the dates for the rounds were announced in January I knew that today was going to be a tricky one.  This was a game which could have easily not happened for me and I faced the very real prospect of having my whole Challenge Cup journey crashing to a halt at the penultimate hurdle.

It was for good reason though as this round happened to fall on the same weekend of my better half’s birthday.  Not just any old birthday either so I had to do a lot of grovelling in order to get her to agree that I could go and leave the planned house party that we had arranged and invited a good number of our close friends along to in the afternoon.  I received a few raised eyebrows from said guests when I left and had to explain where I was going.

I will admit that I was hugely relived that the game would kick off early enough, at 2:30pm, and was arranged to be played around the corner to my home at Leigh Sports Village, the shortest trip I’ve had to make since watching Leigh Miners Rangers at nearby Twist Lane in Round One, so it was a nice, easy 15 minute drive down the A580 to the stadium.

I had bought and picked up my tickets a few weeks earlier through Warrington’s channels (I’m starting to get to know my way around their website after the last couple of rounds) and kept them sat safe on my bookcase over the next few weeks.  So, as game day arrived, I was joined once again by my old man and we made our way to the ground.

We decided not to try and park at the ground so, like many other supporters, we found a good spot on the nearby main road and walked the short distance to the stadium.  It was still around 45 minutes to kick off and already the atmosphere sounded electric and I could hear both sets of fans going at it.  I didn’t know whether to feel sorry for or envious of the residents living in the shadow of the stadium having to hear that every other week.

We got to the ground in good time and made our way into the packed out North Stand which had become a mini Halliwell Jones and, as you do, decided to get ourselves a pint.  The only problem was the massive queues to each bar and we eventually managed to get a couple of drinks from an over-spill bar which had been cunningly set up inside the entrance to a laundry room and, judging by the reaction of my dad’s face after he took his first sip, it might have even had some remnants of soap powder in the glass!

Once outside we found a decent spot near the back of the stand and camped ourselves in between a host of Wolves supporters who were giving it their all towards the slightly smaller number of Wildcats fans at the other end.  For those of you who remember from my last blog, you’ll be pleased to know my dad’s ears were saved again as we avoided standing anywhere near the Warrington drummer.

The teams came out to raucous applause from both sets of fans and the game got underway bang on time.  It wasn’t long before the first try was scored and it went to the Yorkshire side much to the frustration of the fans around me.  Thus ensued my first experience of the ‘Viking Clap’ as the Wakefield faithful performed their own, pretty well rehearsed I might add, version of the chant made famous by the Icelandic contingent during Euro 2016.

The lead didn’t last long as the favourites were back level and had quickly taken the lead by the end of the first quarter.  Warrington were playing some impressive rugby at this point and were sailing towards Wembley when they added three further tries for a comfortable 24-6 lead at half time.

As in the last round we were treated to Ladbrokes’ half time Crossbar Challenge and even though we were both waving our arms in the air like lunatics we weren’t picked up by the camera zooming across the stand.  Rightfully, an avid Warrington fan was picked out from just behind the sticks and after the usual blurb of introductions he came very close to grabbing the £100,000 prize that was being offered.  Apparently that will now roll over again and hopefully handed out at the Final.

The game resumed and so did the Warrington juggernaut as they continued to add further tries every two to four minutes.  The Wakefield side were visibly shattered by the hour mark when Warrington reached the 50 point mark thanks to Ben Westwood’s try and when their fans attempted another somewhat half-hearted rendition of the ‘Viking Clap’ the supporters at the opposite end couldn’t help themselves and reacted in the only way possible ... “What the f****** hell was that?”

Thankfully for the Wildcats some pride was restored with a well-worked try to slightly reduce the deficit but Warrington had the final say two minutes before the full time hooter.

Now I’m going to admit to something here, so brace yourselves... I committed what I consider to be a cardinal sin – I left the game before it finished!!  I have never done that before and plan to never do it again but as I explained earlier, it was needs must in order to beat the traffic, make a quick dash to Tesco and pick up a friend from a nearby train station so I could be back at the party and enjoy the evening.  Even the wife was surprised that I’d done that and it may have possibly won me back some brownie points that I had lost by even going to the game!  She is yet to confirm this in writing so I won’t hold my breath.

I then had a gut-wrenching moment as we were walking back to the car.  I noticed a small rectangular black and yellow object stuck under my windscreen wiper.  After I’d got rid of all the expletives I could come up with in the following 50 yards or so to pluck the plastic envelope from its resting place I was quite taken aback by the fact that it wasn’t a parking ticket after all but a flier offering cheap coach travel to the Final!  I looked around and most of the cars parked on the street had been given one and was highly relieved.  It led me to agree that whoever came up with the idea to make them this way would certainly get the attention they were after.

This was the third time I’d seen the Wolves in this year’s Challenge Cup and this was by far their best performance.  As for Wakefield, they can now concentrate on finishing on a high in the Super 8’s.

In hindsight, after the running around I did all over Leigh and the surrounding towns and villages following the game, I may have to reassess my plans when the fixtures come out next year when (sorry, I meant ‘IF’) I look to do this again!

But it has definitely been worth it...

Now roll on August 27^th!