Hungry Wolves break Dorn
A hat-trick from Luke Dorn couldn't prevent Harlequins slipping to a 44-34 loss at the hands of Warrington.
Last Updated: 13/09/09 5:56pm
A hat-trick from Luke Dorn couldn't prevent Harlequins slipping to a 44-34 loss at the hands of Warrington.
Kevin Penny scored two of the Wolves' eight tries as the Challenge Cup winners rounded out their season in style.
For Quins the loss was their 11th in 12 outings - a dreadful slump in form that means they finish up in 11th position having been ensconced in the top eight for so much of the campaign.
Had results gone differently, both sides could have found themselves fighting it out for a play-off place at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
Pride
Instead, Catalans Dragons' stunning victory over St Helens on Friday night meant both the Wolves and Quins were playing for nothing but pride.
Lee Briers booting the kick off straight into touch summed up the opening exchanges for the hosts, who conceded two tries inside eight minutes.
Danny Orr's cross-field kick set up Tony Clubb to break the deadlock and soon after Dorn grabbed his first of the afternoon, Matt Gafa adding the extras.
Eventually Warrington awoke from their early slumber, winger Penny finishing off Matty Blythe's surging break.
They soon pulled level - Chris Bridge converting Ben Westwood's try - only for Quins to go back in front when Dorn broke away from some weak tackling to reach the line.
Chris Melling knocked over the conversion to make it 16-10, though the visitors' joy proved short-lived and by half time the scores were level again.
The sin-binning of Luke Williamson opened up enough space for Briers to breeze over and with their opponents still down to 12, the Wolves moved ahead for the first time when Blythe crossed six minutes after the break.
Debut try
A try on debut for teenage hooker Alex Thompson and a second for Penny helped the home side pull clear, Bridge's boot making the score 32-16.
Quins, to their credit, continued to battle hard and tries from Jamie O'Callaghan and Matt Gafa in a three-minute burst cut the gap to 32-28.
But, while Dorn did manage to complete his treble, Brian McDermott's side failed to get back in front as the points just kept on coming.
Mickey Higham and Tyrone McCarthy both touched down to seal the win for Warrington, who paraded the Challenge Cup in front of their fans after the final hooter having avenged a 60-8 loss at the Twickenham Stoop back in March.
