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...

The Road to Wembley - Part 6

Challenge Cup Round 6

Oldham Roughyeds 10 Warrington Wolves 70 – Saturday, 7 May 2016

Fresh from shocking everyone in rugby league with their 36-22 demolition of Super League’s Hull KR, I listened intently to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the following Thursday morning on the way to work to find out where I would be sent next on my Challenge Cup journey.  It turned out I would be back at Bower Fold as Oldham were rewarded with a tough home draw – Super League leaders Warrington would be coming to town!

I was thrilled with that as it meant a nice local trip for me from my home in Tyldesley.  I asked the other half if she wanted to come along again but was stood up this time in favour of an afternoon in the garden.  That left the option open for inviting some mates along and one of them, Andy, duly obliged.  Like me, he has no allegiance to either of the sides that were playing and was no doubt lured by the chance of a pie and a pint in the sun whilst watching a good game of rugby.

In the weeks leading up to the match Oldham announced that it wouldn’t be an all-ticket game and I was pleased to see they were expecting a large crowd and the advice was to get there early to avoid long queues at the turnstiles.  I wasn’t disappointed!  Even though there was a smaller attendance than in the last round away to Hull KR, Bower Fold is a small enough ground to be able to feel packed out by just over 2,500 vocal fans which led to fantastic atmosphere before, during and after the game.

Andy offered to drive and we arrived at the ground in plenty of time – a full two hours before kickoff - and the ground was already getting full with supporters outside enjoying a pint in the sun.  We hadn’t thought of booking a parking spot so the car park attendant kindly gave us directions, albeit confusing ones, to a designated car park about half a mile back down the road.  Needless to say we didn’t fancy walking all the way back up the hill so we found a little side street half way down and left the car there.

Once we got back up the hill of death the first destination was the little Indian restaurant situated at the ground where the bar was open serving alcohol to the fans.  Two beers were purchased and we stood outside watching people arrive and waiting for the turnstiles to open.  It wasn’t long before they did and we made our way into the ground, paying a very reasonable £15 each (£2 for a match programme) and found a spot to stand and watch the mini rugby game being used as pre-match entertainment.

Having been at this ground in previous rounds I pointed out a good spot to stand and watch the game.  We made our way round to the terracing opposite the main stand where I watched Odham’s game against Kells but unfortunately, the game was segregated so we couldn’t quite reach the middle of the pitch where I was last time as that area was designated to the Warrington fans.

The atmosphere was building as both sets of players were cheered onto the pitch just for their pre-match warm-ups and even though there were considerably more Wolves supporters it was the ‘Yeds faithful that were making the most noise.

The players eventually emerged from the dug-outs, assisted by an excited and enthusiastic band of mini rugby players that we had watched earlier, and the game was on.  Could Oldham pull off an even bigger shock than their win in the last round today?

The ‘Yeds fans certainly believed so and their excellent vocal support proved to be an 18^th man for the Oldham players who, playing towards their own fans, took a very well deserved 6-0 lead inside the opening 10 minutes.

Warrington aren’t two points clear at the top of the Super League for nothing though and it wasn’t long before they equalised and then score a further two tries to give them a ten point lead with half time looming.  What happened next was what I would consider the ‘gamebreaker’ and where Oldham’s heads may have dropped.  They were attacking well and were unlucky not to add their second try to make the second half very interesting, but a loose pass 20 meters out was intercepted by the Warrington centre who had the legs to comfortably beat both Oldham winger and full back to score his sides fourth try and make the score 22-6 at half time.

Half time arrived and with it a quick toilet stop and top up from the bar was required.  I thought I was doing well at this point as I hadn’t missed a try but as we came back out for the second half the game restarted and, within seconds, Warrington were over the try line again.  Due to the density of the crowd we gave up any hope of craning our necks over the home fans to see the goal attempt and walked back round to our spots in the stand.

Warrington’s sheer strength and physicality was starting to pay dividends and they quickly put a lot more points on the board, including a seven minute hat-trick for George King, and the score-line had well and truly got away from Oldham – reading 48-6 before they had even caught their breath.

I realised at this point that I hadn’t been keeping score in my trusty little black book that I take to every game and spent the next few minutes trying to work out the scoring sequence, which wasn’t helped by the fact Warrington added another try or two in that time and was struggling to work out which ones had been converted and which ones hadn’t, much to Andy’s amusement!

As Warrington kept the score board ticking over by adding almost a point a minute they changed goal kicker from Kurt Gidley to Stefan Ratchford and he received plenty of light-hearted banter from the nearby Oldham fans.  Despite, Andy’s slim hopes of a fight back the game was well and truly over but Oldham did finished where they had started by crossing for their second try late on in the right corner much to the delight of both sets of fans.

So it’s the Warrington Wolves that I now join on the ‘Road to Wembley’ and I wouldn’t have long to wait to find out where I would be as the draw for the Quarter Finals was the following day.

The Road to Wembley - Part 5

Challenge Cup Round 5

Hull Kingston Rovers 22 Oldham Roughyeds 36 – Saturday, 16 April 2016

After Oldham’s comfortable victory in Round 4 they were given a great away day against a Super League side and for me it would be the first time I would see a side from the top level in this season’s Challenge Cup.  The draw for the Round 5 turned out to be very kind for me as it happened, as Hull KR would be an easy game for me to get to as it was practically on the door step of my in-laws.

My other half is an East Yorkshire lass born and bred so when the draw came out I happily told her that we could have a weekend at her parents.  It proved even more useful for us as it happened that her friend was hosting a first birthday party in Hull that weekend so it was a win-win all round!  When it turned out the game would be played on a Saturday she was even more chuffed as I could then chauffer her to said party on Sunday.

Having followed both sides progress in their respective league matches following the draw I was pleased to see that the Roughyeds had picked up a couple of wins in the Championship in the weeks leading up to the tie and would be in relatively decent form going into the game.  Unfortunately for the Robins, their form hadn’t got any better and were still languishing near the bottom of the table with just a couple of wins and a draw from their first 11 games.

Form doesn’t always count for everything in rugby league so I, along with all but a very limited number of Oldham fans, fully expected Hull KR to breeze through this game and into the next round ... It’s safe to say I could not have been more wrong!!

As it would be a short drive to the ground from her parents the wife decided to accompany me to the match - her first since Round 2.  I was pleased with the ease it was in buying the tickets for the game as I opted to purchase the tickets through the Hull KR website at a reduced price a couple of days before the game where I was able to hand pick my seats – right on the half way line in the main stand above the dug outs.

I also managed to speak to Rovers’ Media Manager, Matt Holden, via email in the week leading up to the game who kindly offered to provide me with a team sheet if the opportunity arose and was expecting me to contact him having seen my previous blogs on the earlier rounds.

After what felt like an age following the draw, match day finally arrived.  We got to the KC Lightstream Stadium nice and early so was able to purchase a match programme outside the ground before picking up our tickets at the office and making our way into the stand.  A pre-match lager for me and a hot chocolate to warm the cockles for the wife and we took our seats in the main stand.

The game got underway and after a fast start from the Roughyeds they stunned the hosts with the opening try on three minutes to give them a shock lead.  But when Rovers hit back soon after to level I fully expected them to go on and win comfortably.

Personally, I try and remain neutral at these games but with the wife being from East Yorkshire, every now and again I was met with a cry of “Come on ‘Ull” when they looked like breaking through which gave some funny looks from spectators around us when I wasn’t cheering as well (you can take the girl out of Hull...!)  One lass even turned round to ask what I was doing as I made notes in my little notepad every time someone scored but wasn’t cheering for either side.

An incredible first half performance saw Oldham storm into a fantastic lead with another three tries before half time and the score line read 24-6 at the break.  I feared for the Hull players’ lives as the air turned blue as the home fan’s showed their verbal discontent that their side was losing to a team near the bottom of the Championship.

As is the norm when visiting new grounds trying to find your way around becomes something of an adventure in itself.  As we left our seats at half time we somehow managed to follow some of Hull KR’s unused squad players down an unrecognizable flight of steps and it wasn’t until we got to the door of a hospitality bar that we realised that we had taken the wrong turning.  We got back on track and made it back to the stand just as the second half kicked off.  I even managed to avoid purchasing snacks at the kiosk while the wife was in the queue waiting for a coffee ... Body’s a temple and all that!

The second half began and with it came an early Rovers try and the fight back was on.  But the first of four unsuccessful conversion attempts from two different players put paid to any real hopes of a comeback as even though they scored a further three tries, Oldham always managed to be that extra score ahead.

Oldham then had the final say to put a real shine on their performance and submit their Super League opponents to an unceremonious exit at the first hurdle from a competition they had reached the Final of last season.

Cue the rapturous celebrations from the pocket of Roughyeds fans and players in the corner of the North Stand, and the boos, jeers and head-calling from the Rovers faithful around the ground as their players made a swift exit from the pitch.

A totally unexpected, but well deserved victory for Oldham sees them through to Thursday morning’s draw and the possibility of a dream tie away to a top 8 Super League side.

As a final note, there is also that added nervousness knowing that there are now TWO French teams in the draw as Toulouse made it through their tie and Catalans entering the fray in Round 6.  Watch this space!!