Hull KR snatch late win over Warrington to end 40-year wait for trophy

Independent

5 hours ago

Mikey Lewis held his nerve to kick the conversion that ended 40 years of Hull KR hurt in a dramatic finish to the Betfred Challenge Cup final at rain-lashed Wembley.
The Super League leaders looked set to extend the agony as opponents Warrington entered the last three minutes with a four-point lead, before Tom Davies flopped onto Tyrone May's kick to haul the Robins level.
To a roar that could be heard back home in a presumably deserted east Hull, Lewis then stepped up to boot his side into the history books, completing an 8-6 win that erased the memory of their last-gasp agony against Leigh in 2023.
It was a remarkable ending to a contest that never quite caught fire and had seemed increasingly likely to be decided by a masterclass from Warrington scrum-half Marc Sneyd, for whom a record-equally Lance Todd trophy for man of the match will prove no consolation.
Sneyd's mastery of the tough conditions had forced the normally reliable Rovers into a series of errors and it was his boot on the stroke of half-time that set up the opening try for Josh Thewlis and looked set to hand Warrington their first Challenge Cup triumph since 2019.
Frustration had slowly mounted for Rovers, who mostly out-muscled their opponents in an grimly fought-out opening 40 but had only a two-point penalty from Lewis to show for their ascendency in the opening half-hour.
The conditions could cost Rovers dear when the otherwise impressive Joe Burgess dropped a slippery high kick from Sneyd in his own 10, and Wire seized on a stroke of fortune when Sneyd's kick ricocheted off a Rovers leg and out wide for Thewlis to score.
With fellow half-back and captain George Williams finding his way into the game after almost eight weeks out following ankle surgery, Sneyd was revelling in the extra responsibility, and Warrington could have gone ahead earlier when Adam Holroyd slapped down a loose ball only for his effort to be ruled out for stripping the ball in the build-up.
Jez Litten's introduction midway through the opening period turned the screw in Rovers' favour and Lewis capitalised on their best period of pressure by kicking them in front after being caught high by Ben Currie.
Warrington rode their luck to wrest the tie in their favour on the half-time hooter, then summoned a sterling defensive effort to keep out a Rovers repeat set as the favourites piled on the pressure after the break.
Sneyd's relentless probing with the boot continued to lift his side out of difficulty, while Rovers made more uncharacteristic errors as the pressure began to mount, captain Elliot Minchella guilty of squirting the ball out of his grasp at the play-the-ball.
With the minutes ticking down it looked like more agony for Rovers until Davies made ground on the right to serve up one last chance. From a subsequent penalty, May's kick was just missed by Warrington winger Arron Lindop, and Davies flapped it down to haul his side level.
Fittingly, it was left to home-grown hero Lewis to kick the decisive points and snatch Willie Peters' men their first trophy since 1985 with less than one and a half minutes left on the clock.