Brown’s treble sinks Vikings
Sky hopes wiped out by motorbike
KEVIN BROWN claimed a hat-trick to twist the knife into his former club as Warrington set up a mouth-watering Challenge Cup quarterfinal tie at home to Wigan.
England stand-off Brown walked out on Widnes during the winter and joined the Wolves, much to the disgust of the Vikings’ faithful, who roundly booed his every touch yesterday.
In the end, though, Brown had the last laugh as his treble helped Tony Smith’s side reached the last eight of a competition they have won three times since 2009 under their Aussie boss.
Warrington coach Smith, whose side face Wigan at the Magic Weekend in Newcastle on Saturday, joked: “We don’t get to play Wigan enough this year! It’s going to be fun playing them in the Challenge Cup. It’s nice to be at home but we didn’t mind who we were drawn against.
“Kev Brown was great today but I thought that
WARRINGTON WIDNES
Matty Russell was unreal. Ryan Atkins is on top form, but I’m pleased for Kev. He had some pressure. We need to work on how we finish our sets but I was really pleased with our character.”
Warrington fell behind to Greg Burke’s try but responded through Ryan Atkins and Brown for a 12-6 half-time lead. Jay Chapelhow’s try and a penalty from Patrick Ah Van gave Widnes a two-point lead after the break. Russell and Chris Hill went over after Brown’s second and third tries, GERAINT THOMAS conceded his hopes of winning the Giro d’Italia are over after crashing on the ninth stage yesterday.
A stationary police motorbike at the side of the road was clipped by Sunweb’s Wilco Kelderman 14km from the summit finish on Blockhaus and the Dutchman tumbled over, wiping out much of Thomas’s Sky team behind him.
Welshman Thomas, who started the day second overall, suffered a dislocated shoulder and had to wait for a new bike, eventually finishing 5mins 8secs behind the stage winner, Movistar’s Nairo Quintana, who also claimed the race leader’s Pink Jersey. Fellow Briton Adam Yates, of Orica-Scott, who had been third with Ah Van crossing for the Vikings.
Widnes’s injury problems meant they had a number of teenagers in their matchday squad, and Lloyd Roby, 18, made his debut.
Denis Betts’ side have lost six of their past seven games, and have not won at Warrington since August 2013.
They also lost Ah Van, who snapped an Achilles, while Joe Mellor suffered a quad injury.
Brown said of the reaction from the fans who once revered him: “It was a funny reception. I’m not sure what they were saying but they don’t like me any more.
“The Challenge Cup is a completely different competition and they’re a good side, but you’d expect them to raise their game for an occasion like this.”
JOE BURGESS scored twice as Wigan beat Swinton 42-12 to reach the quarter-finals, while Leeds crushed parttimers Barrow 72-10 at Headingley with Joel Moon claiming a first-half hat-trick. overall, also went down in the crash and ended up 4mins 39secs down on Colombian Quintana.
Thomas said: “It’s ridiculous. That shouldn’t happen. I felt good, then I crashed. That was it, race over. It’s really disappointing. I’m a bit angry.
“We never gave up and it could have been worse. We might still be able to move into the top 10. There’s a lot more racing to be had so we’ll get stuck in.”
Mikel Landa, Thomas’s co-leader for Team Sky, also crashed and finished a huge 26mins 59secs behind.