And breathe! Warrington got the better of rivals Wigan in a gritty and nervy Challenge Cup affair and booked a place in the quarter finals of the cup at the expense of Adrian Lam's team.
Steve Price selected the exact team that I predicted in my Sweet 17 piece, with Bryson Goodwin on the wing and Matt Davis continuing to start at loose forward, while Ben Murdoch-Masila came back into the squad and was on the bench, in place of Harvey Livett.
Both teams made a lively start to the game and the pattern was quick, frenetic play. Wire struck first when a quick passage of play - culminating in a great pass from Stefan Ratchford - got Goodwin in in the corner. Ratchford converted the goal for a 6-0 lead. Warrington were eternally thankful to video referee Robert Hicks when Thomas Leuluai forced the ball out of Blake Austin's hands with a big hit and he sent Dan Sarginson racing 60 metres through to touch down, though Hicks correctly ruled the try out for a knock-on by the Wigan number seven. Wigan did end up levelling the scores when George Williams' kick wasn't caught by Goodwin and Leuluai kicked it into the path of Sam Powell to score, with Zak Hardaker levelling the game at 6-6.
Wire were back in front soon afterwards though, when Ratchford cleverly deflected Daryl Clark's ball into the hands of Jack Hughes, and the second rower wrestled his way out of the challenge to get the ball down and score. Ratchford then converted the try for a 12-6 lead, but Wigan got themselves level again through Leuluai when he proved just too fast and strong for our defence and he crossed the line. Hardaker levelled the scores at 12-12 with the conversion, though the outstanding moment of the game was yet to come. Daryl Clark collected the ball from dummy half and showed an incredible turn of pace and skill to ease past four Wigan defenders and cross over for a wonderful try - the cherry on top of a magnificent performance, as ever, from the former Castleford man. An easy kick for Ratchford made it 18-12 at half time.
Hardaker narrowed the gap to four with a penalty goal early into the second 40 minutes, though a few minutes later Declan Patton played a looped ball to Ryan Atkins, and Atkins fought his way over the line to score a try that was made and finished in the land of Warrington scapegoats. Another Ratchford conversion made it 24-14 and the game looked comfortable, though it didn't remain this way for long. The influential Leuluai found Dan Sarginson who muscled past the challenges of Goodwin and Atkins to score. Hardaker's conversion made it 24-20 before the former Castleford and Leeds full back finished off a good Wigan passing move and beat Atkins to the line. Fortunately, Hardaker failed to convert his own try, meaning the scores were level at 24-24 with 25 minutes left.
With 12 minutes remaining, Warrington were awarded a penalty after Mike Cooper was held down. Ratchford kicked his fifth goal of the day and gave Steve Price's team a two point advantage heading into the closing stages. The final throes of the game were nervy and edgy, with Josh Charnley gifting Wigan a chance when he fumbled Williams' kick, though the game was over when Oliver Gildart made a mess of a pass out wide.
Major relief at the Halliwell Jones today. Warrington earned a tight win over the old rivals and a place in the quarters of the cup. A win over Wigan always feels rewarding but today even more so, as it feels like a step was taken to possible silverware in August. An astounding performance from Daryl Clark while Stefan Ratchford was also brilliant. We travel to Hull KR in the quarter finals, which is a decent draw and one we can feel confident with. Today was a gritty, if error-ridden performance, and we held our nerve better than Wigan late on in the game. Happy days!
It's always our year.
Daniel (@aloosewire)
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