WARRINGTON hero Lee Briers dedicated his side’s stunning Carnegie Challenge Cup semi-final success to his late brother. Brian Briers, who died eight years ago, would have celebrated his birthday on Saturday and the Wolves stand-off paid an emotional tribute after his man-of-the match display against Wigan. Briers was outstanding as the Wolves held off a Wigan fightback to win 39-26 at the Stobart Stadium in Widnes and slotted a crucial drop goal to ease nerves late on. Briers said: “It’s a bit special for me and I was a bit emotional before and after the game. “It’s going to take a few days to sink in. “It’s my best win in terms of an end product, but probably not the best performance. “It’s really nice to get there and I’m on top of the world for the fans but we have not won anything yet. “We’re not going there just to make the numbers up.” Warrington took control of the game by running in six tries in a blistering 28-minute spell that spanned half-time. Matt King claimed a hat-trick while Louis Anderson, Briers and Michael Cooper also went over to put the Wolves 32-8 ahead. Wigan, who had opened the scoring through Phil Bailey, hit back to get within six points and set up a grandstand finish with tries from Sam Tomkins, Andy Coley and Thomas Leuluai. Briers stemmed the Warriors’ charge with his one-pointer on 70 minutes and Chris Hicks crossed late on to book Warrington’s first Challenge Cup final appearance for 19 years. Coach Tony Smith said: “It’s nice reward for the boys and the effort they put in. They really stuck together today. “We got the momentum going our way for a fair bit of that first half but all credit to Wigan, it wasn’t all one-way traffic. “They turned some momentum around on us but I wasn’t worried. “I knew these people were determined enough to stick in for each other and I knew they weren’t going to let that slip. “I knew we had players with the capability to dig in there and they’ve been showing that kind of determination for a while now.” While the Wolves can look forward to a Wembley date with St Helens or Huddersfield in three weeks’ time, Wigan’s sole focus will now be on securing a Super League play-off place. The Warriors had been in great form with five successive wins before a narrow loss to Saints last week. Coach Brian Noble, whose future beyond the end of the season remains uncertain, said: “We started well but didn’t go on with it and that’s all credit to Warrington, they stuck in there. “In the second half we showed there is a lot of fortitude in the camp. “They thought they could get back into the game and very nearly did. They’re all disappointed, we thought we would show better than we did but we gave ourselves too big a hill to climb. “It’s important we learn the lessons but it’s cruel to learn them in a big game.” Noble also revealed Bailey was likely to miss the remainder of the season after suffering an Achilles injury. MATCH SUMMARY: Wigan (8) 26. Tries: Bailey, S. Tomkins, Coley, Leuluai. Goals: Richards 5. Warrington (28) 39. Tries: King 3, L. Anderson, Briers, Cooper, Hicks. Goals: Bridge 5. Drop Goals: Briers. Att: 12,975 | 
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