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!

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.