Warrington 34-20 Widnes: Challenge Cup report & reaction

Match stats: Warrington 34-20 Widnes

Warrington tries: Atkins (22), Brown (27, 53, 69), Russell (73), Hill (76)
Conversions/Penalties: Ratchford (22, 27, 53, 61, 76) 

Widnes tries: Burke (15), Chapelhow (46), Ah Van (64)
Conversions/Penalties: Ah Van (15, 46, 50, 64) 

Match report

Kevin Brown knocked his old club out of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup with a virtuoso performance in Warrington's gripping 34-20 sixth-round win over Widnes.

The England stand-off was roundly booed by the Vikings fans still angry over his decision to leave them in the close season for their arch-rivals but he had the last laugh with a sensational hat-trick of tries.

The Wolves needed all the craft and experience of the former Wigan and Huddersfield captain to help them see off a gritty Widnes team that made light of a crippling injury list to push them all the way in an absorbing tie at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

The Vikings, without 12 senior players, twice held the lead and were level at 20-20 after 63 minutes but Brown broke their resistance with his third try before Matty Russell and Chris Hill added further efforts in the last eight minutes to give their side a flattering margin of victory.

Click here for full Challenge Cup quarter-final draw

Click here for full Challenge Cup sixth-round review

Widnes coach Denis Betts handed a debut to 18-year-old winger Lloyd Roby and a first start to centre Liam Walsh while 17-year-old Danny Walker made a major impact from the bench as the visitors went desperately close to springing an upset.

The Vikings, bottom of Super League with just two wins from their first 13 matches, took the lead with a 15th-minute try from former Wigan forward Greg Burke who charged onto Aaron Heremaia's short pass from dummy half.

Warrington centre Ryan Atkins brought his side level when he sliced through for a try midway through the first half and then Brown took centre stage.

The former Vikings captain stole the ball in a one-on-one tackle on Patrick Ah Van and, when he was held down in cynical fashion by full-back Rhys Hanbury, referee James Child had little option but to brandish a yellow card.

Hanbury clearly felt it was worth taking one for the team but the Wolves took advantage of the extra man when Brown jinked his way over for a try that put his side in front, moments after prop Ashton Sims had been denied by video referee Ben Thaler.

Stefan Ratchford's second conversion made it 12-6 and that is how it stayed for the rest of the half as Widnes battled manfully.

Even when they were still down to 12 men, they managed to cause plenty of problems for the home side, with Eamon O'Carroll, Heremaia and Hep Cahill all thrown back from the line and Manase Manuokafoa brought back for a forward pass.

The visitors threatened once more to cause an upset when substitute forward James Chapelhow stretched out for a try after running the ball from first receiver five minutes into the second half.

Ah Van levelled the scores with the touchline conversion and made it three goals from as many attempts five minutes later with a penalty that restored his side's lead.

It lasted just two minutes, however, for Brown showed his class with a trademark jinking run that brought him his second try.

Ratchford kicked his third conversion and kicked a 62nd-minute penalty to re-establish a six-point lead but it evaporated just as quickly as Walker burst through the heart of the Warrington defence to get Ah Van over for a third try.

The winger kicked his fourth goal to lock the scores up for a third time but Brown came to Warrington's rescue, making a dart for the line and somehow managing to free an arm to get the ball down despite the attention of four defenders.

That proved the killer blow for Widnes, whose over-worked defence cracked twice more in the closing stages.

Match reaction

Warrington coach Tony Smith on Kevin Brown: "I'm delighted for Kev. He was under some vocal pressure even before the first whistle blew and responded well.

"I'm pleased for him. He came back from (England's match in) Australia with confidence and took that into the game today. He took them on and made some very good decisions. I think we will see more from Kev this year but that showed why we brought him here.

"I thought he was good but I didn't think he was as good as Matty Russell. I thought Matty was unreal and Ryan Atkins is in top form as well. All credit to Widnes, who had a real dig. We had to face up to that because they just wouldn't give in.

"There were times when we looked really good and I felt we let them off with the way we finished off a couple of sets, we could have put the foot on their throat. I thought we were really good in some areas and scrappy in others but I'm happy with our character."

On the injury to Harvey Livett: "He went out and warmed up and felt it go. It's disappointing for Harvey because he's been in good form."

Widnes coach Denis Betts on the contribution of 18-year-old winger Lloyd Roby on his debut and 17-year-old Danny Walker: "I'm very proud. We were pretty confident going into the game. We had nothing to lose because the odds were stacked against us. We had three teenagers in that group and I thought all three of them were outstanding.

"Danny is going to be a star but at the moment he's playing more games than he should. We've got to make sure he gets to the right level. The players are feeling a bit deflated because of the effort they have put in. We've taken a lot out of the last couple of weeks and put a couple of markers down.

"It was a momentous effort against a side stacked full of internationals on their home ground. I'm not sure what we've done wrong, every time we get ourselves in a good position, we lose more players.

"Joe Mellor has pulled a quad, Aaron Heremaia has a bad knock to his jaw and we've lost Paddy Ah Van for the season with a snapped Achilles. We're pretty depleted and we need to bring some players in on loan because we need some who can play Super League."