9 Aug 2009

King and Monaghan take Warrington to Wembley

6:52 am on 9 August 2009

Former New South Wales and Melbourne winger Matt King has inspired Warrington to a shock 39-26 victory over Wigan in English rugby league's Challenge Cup semi-final.

King scored the first semi-final hat-trick since Wigan winger Brett Dallas got three in 2004 as the Wolves surged into a 32-8 lead after 49 minutes.

Wigan responded with three second-half tries that cut the deficit to just six points, but Warrington stand-off Lee Briers came up with another precious one-pointer before winger Chris Hicks got the clinching try five minutes from full time.

Briers' heroics earned him the man-of-the-match award and helped Warrington back to Wembley for the first time in 19 years.