IT was supposed to be Hull KR’s day.
The day they finally ended 40 years of pain. The afternoon they won their second-ever Challenge Cup. The day they went from a club on the up, the one with promise and ambition, to a champion club.
And for 77 minutes somebody forgot to tell Warrington.
Written off, underestimated, put down by the bookies, the media and most fans, the Wolves put on a gutsy performance. Few had given them a chance before kick-off.
With no Danny Walker or Matty Ashton, with George Williams having not touched a Steeden in two months, to the exit of Zane Musgrove or their indifferent Super League form, they arrived in London as underdogs.
You never get given anything in rugby league, you have to work for every metre, every tackle, every pass, every run. That adage couldn’t be truer after Hull KR, the form team in Super League, were about to be humbled by a side hit by injuries and inconsistent results in the cauldron that is Wembley.
For the majority Warrington played the bad conditions better and threw themselves into every tackle. Their physicality, their grit and toughness, their will to win was immense. They personified Sam Burgess’ best traits when he strode the turf as a player for Souths, Bradford, England and Great Britain.
Luke Yates tackled himself into a standstill. So did Ben Currie. Paul Vaughan made carry after carry and Matt Dufty heroically played on for some time with a fractured eye socket.
And Marc Sneyd marshalled his troops perfectly. His kicking game pinned the Robins down and his passing was on song. He was definitely the best on ground, a worthy Lance Todd trophy winner.
Then came the twist.
Tyrone May dinked a kick into the Warrington in-goal. Arron Lindop went to knock the ball out but missed, with Tom Davies pouncing. It went to the video referee, with Wolves claiming that Lindop had grounded the ball with his torso.
But video referee Jack Smith ruled that the ball was still live, with Davies’ try awarded. That made it 6-6, with Mikey Lewis stepping up for the biggest kick of his life.
With 170 seconds left, Lewis lined up his shot. He took his time, marked his walk and lined up his sight. With everyone in Wembley on the edge of their seat, he walked up, drove his foot through the ball and nailed it perfectly. 8-6. Execution at the most tense of moments.
With less than two minutes for the Wolves to respond, they went for a short kick-off but could not win the ball back. Hull KR drove forward for a set of safety-first six tackles. Then with 39 seconds left Lewis grubbered in behind to Stefan Ratchford, with Warrington needing a miracle.
But Ratchford forced an offload that went into touch and the Robins players and fans erupted. And that was that, Hull KR had its first trophy since 1985. Glory. Success. Silverware. Relief. Ecstasy.
For Warrington it was the most bitter of blows. Heartbreak. Agony. Despair.
After the game the talk was of the decision, of the minutia of the rule around a defending team grounding the ball. Burgess claimed it was a wrong decision, and social media raged about whether it was the correct call or not. Willlie Peters and Elliot Minchella paid credit to their opponents and admitted Warrington had dominated most of the contest.
But it mattered not. The Robins hung in there, and like a thief in the night, stole the Cup at the death. Their players struggled to express their emotions in the tunnel after full-time.
Jesse Sue revealed he had been teary all week, Sam Luckley was trying to comprehend what had happened, Jez Litten was lost for words. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, the gnarled veteran who retires in four months, dedicated the victory to the club’s boards, its supporters and indeed to the whole city of Hull.
Some will say it was a poor final, with an average attendance. That it lacked entertainment, or great tries, or free-flowing moments. That Hull KR rode their luck big-time. That they stole it at the death. So what?
For the Robins, the Cup is theirs again after a 45-year wait and in the end that is all that truly matters.