Warrington beat Saints to reach Challenge Cup semis

Betfred Challenge Cup

Warrington (6) 20

Tries: Dufty, Currie, Williams Goals: Sneyd (4)

St Helens (6) 12

Tries: Sailor, Clark Goals: Bennison (2)

Warrington Wolves edged out St Helens to reach the Betfred Challenge Cup semi-finals in a pulsating clash at The Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Tries from Matt Dufty and Ben Currie put the hosts in control, before player of the match George Williams crossed for the decisive try.

Tristan Sailor and Daryl Clark replied for 13-time cup winners Saints, but Warrington's quality in attack told in the end.

They will meet Leigh Leopards for a place in the final and chance of their first cup triumph since 2019, while Hull KR face Catalans in the other last-four tie.

After a strong start from St Helens, Warrington opened the scoring against the run of play through Dufty. The full-back crossed the line after a smart pass from Williams, after a desperate pass from James Harrison kept the attack alive. Marc Sneyd converted from close range to make it 6-0.

Saints thought they had hit back when Sailor burst through to tap down a searching kick from Jonny Lomax as the ball reached touch, initially given as a no try. It went to a review, and the video referee confirmed the referee's decision.

Just before the break, though, the visitors levelled through a similar move. Sailor again grounded a Lomax kick, but timed it better and the video referee confirmed it. Jon Bennison ensured the scores were level at the break with the conversion after regular kicker Mark Percival went off with a head injury.

Matty Ashton squandered a wonderful chance for a second Warrington try five minutes after the restart. After a superb break, he failed to square to Dufty and was denied by Jack Welsby. Sneyd did restore their lead minutes later with a penalty for offside, but it should have been more.

Both sides went close again as they traded blows. Joe Batchelor lost possession before reaching the line for Saints, confirmed by the video referee, before an Ashton try was ruled out due to a forward pass at the other end.

But on 55 minutes, Warrington finally scored a second try through Currie. Williams' kick bounced perfectly for him to run through and touch down under the posts. Sneyd converted to stretch their lead to eight points.

It took only five minutes for Saints to hit back, though. Clark crossed after a Wolves knock-on was picked up by Moses Mbye, and Bennison converted to make it 14-12.

With the game on a knife edge, it was fitting Williams had the final say, and in emphatic fashion. He jinked his way into space and drove down the right wing to cross, with Sneyd duly adding the extras to seal success for the nine-time Challenge Cup winners.

Warrington players celebrate after Ben Currie (second right) scores his side's second try against St Helens

Warrington Wolves head coach Sam Burgess told BBC Two:

"We knew it was going to be tough. We were good in patches but we showed a lot of spirit, St Helens are a really tough side, it was a great contest.

"The game opened up as some fatigue set in, we have a bit to look at but we should be proud of the effort and commitment to the result.

"We feel we have a long way to go with our defence, but we were good today and I'm happy with the spirit."

St Helens head coach Paul Wellens told BBC Two:

"I can never fault the efforts of the team.

"I'm proud of them but there are some lessons to be learned in terms of big games, we were under a lot of pressure but a lot of the pressure was self-inflicted.

"When we were attacking them we were creating some space but there is lots to be learned."

Warrington: Dufty; Lindof, Currie, Tai, Ashton; Williams, Sneyd; Musgrove, Walker, Vaughan, Holroyd, Fitzgibbon, Harrison.

Interchanges: Powell, Yates, Philbin, Crowther. Thewlis.

St Helens: Welsby, Bennison, Whitley, Percival, Sambou, Lomax, Walmsley, Mbye, Lees, Sironen, Batchelor, Knowles.

Interchanges: Clark, Paasi, Wingfield, Delaney, Bell.

Referee: Liam Moore.