Challenge Cup: Twelve-player Wigan Warriors take famous 14-12 quarter-final win over Warrington Wolves
Wigan Warriors secure a memorable 14-12 victory over Warrington Wolves to advance to the Challenge Cup semi-finals; Kaide Ellis sent off early in the match but Wigan still overcome rivals in last eight to book a showdown with Hull KR; Leigh will meet St Helens after battling past York
Last Updated: 18/06/23 8:00pm
Wigan beat Warrington 14-12 in their Challenge Cup quarter-final at the DW Stadium, despite having a player sent off after only seven minutes.
The Warriors survived the early dismissal of loose forward Kaide Ellis to edge past the Wolves and book a semi-final clash with Hull KR.
Australian back-rower Ellis was shown a straight red card for aiming a headbutt at Wolves centre Stefan Ratchford.
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But the Challenge Cup holders shrugged it off to lead 8-0 at half-time thanks to a try from on-loan Warrington centre Toby King and two Harry Smith goals.
Joe Bullock and Josh Thewlis both crossed for the visitors in the second half either side of Abbas Miski's effort to set up a tense finish.
But Wigan, the record 20-time winners of rugby league's oldest cup competition, held on for a famous win.
Wigan went close in the sixth minute when Smith's last-tackle kick was fielded in the left corner by Thewlis.
Moments later Connor Wrench was dragged into his own in-goal area, sparking the confrontation between Ellis and Ratchford. During the melee, Ellis headbutted the Warrington man and referee Liam Moore produced a straight red card.
Ratchford was left with a bloodied nose but was able to continue, yet the 12 men of Wigan opened the scoring in the 10th minute.
Smith's high kick was knocked back invitingly by Miski into the path of King, who dived over from close range to score against his parent club.
Smith's conversion made it 6-0 and Warrington struggled to make any real inroads into Wigan territory.
They were undermined by handling errors and the Warriors stretched their lead in the 23rd minute when Wolves forward James Harrison was caught offside and Smith kicked the penalty.
Wigan centre Jake Wardle and Warrington prop Joe Bullock then suffered a nasty clash of heads which forced both players off for head injury assessments.
Warriors front-rower Ethan Havard also took a knock to the head and departed for a HIA during the first half, but all three players were later passed fit to return to the action.
Warrington fashioned a rare opening five minutes before the interval when Thewlis and Wrench attempted to combine in the right corner only for Wigan to keep them at bay.
Wigan went close to a second try five minutes after the restart when Morgan Smithies almost barrelled his way over the line from close range.
Wolves finally got their first points of the game in the 53rd minute when Clark's pass sent Bullock over from close range and Ratchford's conversion made it 8-6.
But Wigan scored their second try in the 58th minute when Jai Field's break created the field position for a fine passing sequence which culminated in King sending Miski over in the right corner before Smith's superb conversion made it 14-6.
Warrington kept probing, though, and they scored their second try in the 73rd minute when George Williams' kick was patted back by Sam Kasiano to Wrench, who sent Thewlis over in the right channel.
Ratchford converted to make it 14-12 and Warrington thought they had scored a winning try when Thewlis dived over in the right corner, but Peter Mata'utia's pass was ruled forward and Wigan held on.
Leigh battle past York into semi-finals
Twelve-player Leigh withstood a wild first half before brushing aside gutsy Championship strugglers York to seal their place in the Challenge Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1987.
Kai O'Donnell was sent off for a tip-tackle after just five minutes and Adrian Lam's men had to fight back from an eight-point half-time deficit before running in five tries in the last half-hour to give the final 34-14 scoreline some gloss.
It proved a remarkable effort by Andrew Henderson's injury-ravaged Knights, who had shipped 100 points to the same team in the Championship last year, and currently face the real threat of plunging into the game's third tier.
In complete contrast, Leigh arrived in North Yorkshire on the back of seven straight wins that have shunted them to within two points of the Super League summit and must surely have expected another comfortable cruise into the last four.
But the form book was ripped up shortly after kick-off when O'Donnell deservedly saw red for a shocking challenge on Josh Daley which set the tone for an undisciplined and error-strewn opening period from the visitors.
A late tackle on Daley from John Asiata handed Myles Harrison the chance to kick York into the lead, and after Zak Hardaker's high tackle temporarily reduced Leigh to 11, the hosts seized the advantage as Ata Hingano's perfect lofted kick sent Joe Brown through the gap for the opening try.
The hosts' resistance was finally broken approaching the hour mark when when Tom Amone twisted through the stretched Knights defence and O'Brien converted to drag the visitors back within two.
Josh Charnley galloped onto a pass from Lam to make his breakthrough four minutes later and by that stage there was an air of inevitability about the proceedings with Leigh more or less permanently camped in the Knights' 20.
Tom Briscoe crossed twice, either side of a second for Charnley, and Hardaker duly kicked the last three conversions to seal his side's semi-final date with St Helens.
Draw set
Wigan and St Helens have been kept apart in the draw for the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup.
Holders Wigan will face Hull KR. Rovers claimed a 28-10 win over Salford on Saturday to move one game away from their first Wembley appearance since 2015, when they were humiliated 50-0 by Leeds.
Saints will start as favourites against resurgent Leigh, who are targeting their first Challenge Cup final place in over half a century.
Both ties will take place at neutral venues yet to be announced, over the weekend of July 22-23.
St Helens, Wigan Warriors and York Valkyrie win in Women's Challenge Cup
St Helens, Wigan Warriors and York Valkyrie won their Women's Challenge Cup quarter-finals on Sunday.
York racked up a big win over Cardiff Demons, 54-0 with Georgie Hetherington touching down for four tries.
St Helens beat Warrington Wolves 36-0 with Saints' Shona Hoyle scoring a hat-trick in the second-half. Luci McColm also went over for two of St Helens' tries.
Wigan overwhelmed Huddersfield Giants 46-10, helping themselves to nine tries in the process.
The semi-final draw sees Wigan take on Leeds, with St Helens up against York.