Warrington Wolves claimed Carnegie Challenge Cup glory for the third time in four years after defeating Leeds Rhinos 35-18 at Wembley Stadium.
Tony Smith saw six of his players get on the scoresheet. Joel Monaghan, Trent Waterhouse, Chris Riley, Tyrone McCarthy, Ryan Atkins and Brett Hodgson all crossed over. Meanwhile Ian Kirke and Kallum Watkins scored tries for the Rhinos, who suffered Final heartache for the third year in a row.
In front of a crowd of 79,180, Leeds made a strong start, but it was Warrington who broke the deadlock early on. Richie Myler made the most of good work from Ben Westwood to offload to Monaghan, who collected the ball and touched down in the right corner.
Warrington, boosted by Monaghan’s breakthrough, appeared to be in the ascendancy, but Kirke responded for Leeds, receiving the ball from Kevin Sinfield before crossing the line.
And Leeds took an 8-6 lead in the 24th minute, when Sinfield converted a penalty after Paul Wood was penalised for a foul on Leeds centre Carl Ablett.
However, Warrington upped their game, and just before the half-hour mark, Waterhouse stormed over the line following neat interplay between Monaghan and Richie Myler, and Brett Hodgson duly converted.
Sinfield again scored a penalty two minutes before the break to ensure Leeds went into the interval within two points of Warrington.
The second half started where the first left off, and Leeds were denied to reclaim the lead after video referee Phil Bentham ruled ‘no try’ after spotting a Kylie Leuluai knock-on in the build-up to Brett Delaney’s effort.
And Warrington made Leeds pay for Leuluai’s unwitting error in the 50th minute, with Riley grabbing Wolves’ third try of the afternoon.
The Cheshire side looked to have put the result beyond doubt six minutes later when Atkins, who had collected a terrific pass from Hodgson, touched down in the right corner.
Hodgson successfully converted to put Wolves 22-10 ahead, and he did the same again after McCarthy bagged yet another try for Smith’s rampant side.
Leeds centre Watkins crossed over to reduce the arrears, but Hodgson, who was named man of the match, capped an impressive display with Wolves’ sixth try.
Watkins notched another late consolation try but it proved to be too little too late as Warrington deservedly lifted the Carnegie Challenge Cup trophy.