THE perfect performance is so often elusive, but Wolves came as close to it as possible when it really mattered.

In front of a sea of primrose and blue at Leigh Sports Village, something special was happening that made a mockery of recent semi-final failures.

When Craig Hall was left unattended to score the first try of the match just four minutes in, it looked as if Wakefield would consign The Wire to their fourth Challenge Cup last-four defeat in a row.

However, from that moment on, Wolves were devastatingly brilliant.

Jack Hughes rumbled over before Daryl Clark slipped past the Wildcats defence to give The Wire a two-score lead after Kurt Gidley had slotted over a penalty.

By the time Rhys Evans dived over in the corner and Gidley powered through on the stroke of half-time, Tony Smith’s men were in complete control.

At 24-6, a poor start to the second half could have given their opponents a sniff, but Wolves were not in a generous mood.

They blitzed their opponents with four tries in the opening 17 minutes of the half, with Sandow starting the rout by skipping and shimmying his way through.

Stefan Ratchford finished off Matty Russell’s break before another escape from the Scotsman ended with Sandow putting Ben Currie in.

Smith could even afford to bring Gidley and Sandow off, not that it made a difference.

Toby King capped an impressive performance by sliding over from Brad Dwyer’s perfectly-weighted kick before Ben Westwood joined the party from a Dwyer short ball.

Wolves had run in 52 points without reply before Max Jowitt finally gave the suffering Wakefield fans something to cheer.

Even then, they were denied the chance to have the last laugh.

That honour went to the younger King brother, who produced a bewitching run to carve through a tired Wildcats defence for his second try.

The party had long since started, but the final whistle served as final confirmation that Wolves had returned to a place that almost became a second home a few years back.

Wembley, and Hull FC, await…

MATCH FACTS: Wolves: Stefan Ratchford; Rhys Evans, Toby King, Ryan Atkins, Matty Russell; Kurt Gidley, Chris Sandow; Chris Hill, Daryl Clark, Ashton Sims, Jack Hughes, Ben Currie, Joe Westerman. Subs: George King, Brad Dwyer, Ben Westwood, Ryan Bailey.

Wildcats: Max Jowitt; Ben Jones-Bishop, Reece Lyne, Joe Arundel, Craig Hall; Jacob Miller, Liam Finn; Nick Scruton, Scott Moore, David Fifita, Jason Walton, Anthony Tupou, Michael Sio. Subs: Jordan Crowther, Danny Kirmond, Tinirau Arona, Andy Yates.

Scoring: Hall try, 5mins, Finn goal, 0-6; Hughes try, 15mins, Gidley goal, 6-6; Gidley penalty, 19mins, 8-6; Clark try, 24mins, Gidley goal, 14-6; Evans try, 27mins, 18-6; Gidley try, 39mins, Gidley goal, 24-6; Sandow try, 45mins, 28-6; Ratchford try, 48mins, Gidley goal, 34-6; Currie try, 53mins, Gidley goal, 40-6; T King try, 57mins, Gidley goal, 46-6; Westwood try, 63mins, Ratchford goal, 52-6; Jowitt try, 67mins, Finn goal, 52-12; T King try, 78mins, 56-12.

Penalties: Wolves 6 Wildcats 5.

Referee: Gareth Hewer.

Attendance: 10,358.

Top man: Chris Sandow.

INTERESTING NOTES:

. Wolves reach fourth Wembley finals in eight years.

. The Wire’s highest ever semi-final points total, beating 54 v Catalans in 2010.