Wolves hang on in seesawing quarter-final

Bradford 22 Warrington 26

Warrington clung on to the Challenge Cup they won last year, but were pushed all the way in an enthralling quarter-final yesterday. Bradford were never ahead, but refused to be shaken off and were still there, hammering away at the Wolves line at the end of the 80 minutes.

"We made tough work of it, but our opposition wouldn't lie down and die," said the Warrington coach, Tony Smith. "They made it tough for us and we made it tough for ourselves as well."

Warrington went ahead early, with Lee Briers prominent, but Bradford fought back through the good work of Rikki Sheriffe to stay within touch at the break.

But after the restart, Warrington pulled away again with Chris Hicks crossing twice, first after finding space on the wing and then latching on to Michael Monaghan's grubber kick.

Bradford refused to concede defeat, Steve Menzies scoring an individual try born out of sheer determination to cut the lead to four points with plenty of time left. But, for all their possession, the Bulls could not get over the line.

Bradford Halley; Sheriffe, Menzies, Nero, Platt; Sykes, Orford; Scruton, L'Estrange, Lynch, Whitehead, Hall, Donaldson. Substitutes used Wardle, Worrincy, Godwin, Kopczak.

Warrington Mathers; Hicks, King, Atkins, Riley; Briers, Bridge; Morley, Monaghan, Harrison, Solomona, Westwood, Grix. Substitutes used Higham, Cooper, Mitchell, V Anderson.

Referee R Silverwood (Mirfield).