Warrington (16) 44
Tries: Penny 2, Westwood, Briers, Blythe, Thompson, Higham, McCarthy Goals: Bridge 6
Harlequins (16) 34
Tries: Clubb, Dorn 3, O'Callaghan, GafaGoals: Gafa 4, Melling
Warrington ended their season on a high as they overcame a brave Harlequins side as both sides had to settle for finishing out of the play-off places. The sides went into the break level at 16-16 after Quins, who had led 10-0, let Warrington back into the game. Warrington took their momentum into the second half with Matthew Blythe, Alex Thompson and Kevin Penny all scoring. Aided by Luke Dorn's hat-trick, Quins cut the gap to four points but the Wolves pulled clear late on. Both teams had an outside chance of making the top eight at the start of the final round of regular season action, but results in other games meant that they were playing only for pride at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. Lee Briers set the tone for an error-strewn game by booting the kick-off straight into touch before Quins took the lead after just 80 seconds with Tony Clubb collecting Danny Orr's cross-field kick. Dorn shot through a gap to make it 10-0, but the Wolves got on the scoreboard when Blythe's excellent break was finished off by Penny. Ben Westwood grabbed the next Wolves try to level the scores, before sloppy tackling allowed Dorn to spin over for his second try and restore Harlequins' lead.  | 606: DEBATE |
With Quins down to 12 men when Luke Williamson was sin-binned just before the break, Briers waltzed over to level the scores going into half-time. Warrington took full advantage of their one-man advantage early in the second half as Blythe scythed through from Briers pass. Garreth Carvell then created Thompson's touchdown before Penny added a second try to stretch the lead to 32-16. Jamie O'Callaghan and Matt Gafa crossed in quick succession for Quins to cut the gap to 32-28, before Mickey Higham and Dorn, with his hat-trick try, traded scores. But Tyrone McCarthy settled the game in Warrington's favour with a try three minutes from time. The result meant Warrington finished 10th in the final Super League table, one place ahead of Harlequins. But while the Wolves can take consolation from their Challenge Cup victory, Quins can only reflect on a miserable end to the season which saw them plummet from fourth in the table after winning just one of their last 12 games.
Warrington coach Tony Smith: "It wasn't pretty from either side in terms of defence. But both teams tried and threw caution to the wind. "It's nice to finish with a win but a couple of wins too short (of the play-offs). "We'd like to be making a finals appearance but at least we have one trophy in the cabinet and will be chasing the other next year." Harlequins coach Brian McDermott: "It was a tough game for both teams to focus but we were both committed and there was some entertainment out there. "It was a good game to blood some youngsters but it was a disappointing end to the season with only one win in 12. "I've done some soul searching in recent weeks but am already planning for next year to start fixing things up. I am excited about the pre-season."
Warrington: Mathers, Penny, Bridge, Blythe, Riley, Briers, Monaghan, Carvell, Higham, Morley, Westwood, McCarthy, Harrison.
Replacements: Rauhihi, Cooper, Mitchell, Thompson. Harlequins: Melling, Clubb, Gafa, Bryan, Sharp, Dorn, Orr, Heckenberg, Randall, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Williamson, Esders, Golden.
Replacements: Haggerty, Gale, Williams, O'Callaghan. Referee: P Bentham (Warrington)
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