THE road to Wembley has begun in earnest…eventually.

Half an hour into Saturday’s clash with Oldham with the score at 6-6, there were no doubt a few Wire fans who thought August’s showpiece in the capital looked a distant dream.

It certainly did when Roughyeds prop Michael Ward stormed through to open the scoring.

They led the Super League front-runners for 10 minutes, meaning the Bower Fold faithful’s day was already made long before Chris Hill rumbled over to equalise.

By the time Benjamin Jullien, Rhys Evans and the imperious Ben Currie had gone over in a purple patch just before the break, it had become a matter of how many Wire would score.

Whatever George King ate, drank or was told at half time, it needs bottling and selling for a king’s ransom.

The prop delivered a seven-minute hat-trick, strolling in for his first just 30 seconds after the restart before powering over from dummy-half for his second and bulldozing through to complete the treble.

Lineham acrobatically opened his account to take The Wire past the 40-point mark, but they were still nowhere near finished.

Currie was putting in a display for the ages, swooping through before unselfishly offloading for Gene Ormsby to mark his first Wolves appearance of the season with a try.

The back-rower eventually got his second, charging down a Lewis Palfrey kick before gathering and scampering 70 metres for a simple touchdown.

Ormsby became the latest to bag a brace, with Currie again influential as he put Jullien through a gaping hole before the Frenchman shifted it on for the winger to dive over in the corner.

With the game under complete control, Tony Smith was able to give the likes of Hill, Ashton Sims, Daryl Clark and Kurt Gidley a much-needed rest, so vital given the lengthy injury list.

It gave 18-year-old Morgan Smith a chance to debut and he was impressive at hooker, capping an industrious and lively performance by burrowing over from close range.

Jullien completed his brace shortly after, but Oldham had the last laugh when Gareth Owen scored on the hooter.

So, onwards to the quarter final with Widnes – and they are sure to provide a much sterner test.

INTERESTING NOTES:

.Wolves and Oldham’s first meeting since 2004, a 44-10 Wire win at Boundary Park

. Morgan Smith scores a try on his senior debut

. 70 points scored by Warrington is a record against Oldham

. The 13 tries scored equals a record against Oldham that was set in September 1948

MATCH FACTS:

Challenge Cup Sixth Round, Saturday, May 7, 2016

Oldham Roughyeds 10 Warrington Wolves 70

Oldham: Richard Lepori; Adam Clay, Jack Holmes, Danny Grimshaw, Jamel Chisholm; Lewis Palfrey, Steve Roper; Phil Joy, Gareth Owen, Michael Ward, Liam Thompson, Gary Middlehurst, Will Hope. Subs: Adam Files, Tom Ashton, Kenny Hughes, Sam Gee.

Wolves: Kevin Penny; Tom Lineham, Rhys Evans, Benjamin Jullien, Gene Ormsby; Kurt Gidley, Stefan Ratchford; Chris Hill, Daryl Clark, Ashton Sims, Joe Philbin, Ben Currie, Joe Westerman. Subs: George King, Sam Wilde, Morgan Smith, Jordan Cox.

Scoring: Ward try, 7mins, Palfrey goal, 6-0; Hill try, 17mins, Gidley goal, 6-6; Jullien try, 30mins, 6-10; Currie try, 32mins, Gidley goal, 6-16; Evans try, 38mins, Gidley goal, 6-22; King try, 41mins, 6-26; King try, 44mins, Gidley goal, 6-32; King try, 47mins, Gidley goal, 6-38; Lineham try, 51mins, 6-42; Ormsby try, 54mins, Gidley goal, 6-48; Currie try, 60mins, Ratchford goal; 6-54; Ormsby try, 66mins, 6-58; Smith try, 71mins, Ratchford goal, 6-64; Jullien try, 74mins, Ratchford goal, 6-70; Owen try, 80mins, 10-70

Penalties: Oldham 4 Wolves 6

Referee: Jonathan Roberts

Attendance: 2,394

Top man: Ben Currie