Dallas seizes on errors to book Wigan final spot

Wigan 30 Warrington 18

Brett Dallas led the way to the Powergen Challenge Cup final with a hat-trick of tries as Wigan exploited Warrington's blunders. The Australian winger, who has battled his way through a series of injuries including a broken jaw and a knee reconstruction, took full advantage of the sort of glaring errors no side can hope to get away with in the unforgiving environment of a semi-final.

A Warrington team robbed by injury of key players Graham Appo and Brent Grose, who could conceivably have inflicted similar damage in a scrappy match, started to dig their own grave in the 9th minute.

On their first attack, the vastly experienced Mike Forshaw threw a pass behind his supporting runners, Dallas picked up and Wigan were six points ahead without having applied any pressure.

Wigan's second try came when Lee Briers, hampered by a hand injury, chipped over the defence and almost regathered for what could have been a spectacular Warrington try. Instead Kris Radlinski took it off his fingertips and ran 65 yards to make it 12-0.

Warrington dominated the half territorially but could only manage a Briers penalty. "I don't think Wigan penetrated our half apart from picking up those two balls and scoring,'' said the Warrington coach, Paul Cullen, afterwards.

You could not fault Warrington's effort and determination and they came back early in the second half. Wigan's Kevin Brown lost the ball, Darren Burns scooped it up and he fed Ben Westwood, who scored in the corner. Andy Farrell edged Wigan a little further ahead with a penalty, but the key moment in the match came from another Warrington gaffe, Dean Gaskell throwing a pass to nobody and seeing Dallas pounce to score again.

Warrington kept going and Burns scored from Briers's kick, but Dallas quickly snuffed out their hopes. Brown picked another Briers kick on his own line and Dallas found a gap to race the length of the field for an unforgettable try to complete his hat-trick and celebrate his 100th appearance for the club.

"Ninety metres is a bit far for me now and they were creeping up on me by the end there,'' said Dallas, who in truth showed no signs of any loss of his old pace. "We were pretty lucky in the first half. Warrington had all the momentum, but we came up with a couple tries against the run of play.''

After Dallas's third try, there was still time for Wigan's emergency winger, Stephen Wild, to score from Terry Newton's clever back-flick and for Forshaw to claim a late consolation try for Warrington.

"We're still not playing well,'' admitted the Wigan coach, Mike Gregory. "With the ball, Warrington were the better side, but our defence was magnificent and defence wins you games. Sometimes it's just about absorbing what they throw at you - and then we had a bit more speed than them."

Wigan: Radlinski; Aspinwall, Wild, Brown, Dallas; O'Loughlin, Orr; C Smith, Newton, Pongia, Cassidy, Hock, Farrell. Substitutes used: Lam, O'Connor, Sculthorpe, M Smith.

Warrington: Cardiss; Westwood, Burns, Sibbit, Gaskell; Briers, Wood; Hilton, Clarke, Lima, Guisset, Wainwright, Forshaw. Substitutes used: Gleeson, Stevens, Noone, Hulse.

Referee: S Ganson (St Helens)

* London Broncos survived a second-half comeback from Widnes to win 34-18 and lift themselves further clear of trouble. Widnes trailed 22-10 at the break but dominated the second period to move within four points of their hosts, until two late Broncos tries sealed the win.

* The Rugby League has summoned the two St Helens players accused of betting against their own team, Sean Long and Martin Gleeson, to be interviewed. The League has also appealed for members of the public who have information about the affair to come forward.