WEMBLEY dreams are over for another year.

Warrington Wolves fell to a third successive Challenge Cup semi-final defeat today, this time to a Hull KR team that has failed to reach the Super League Super 8s.

A late rally was not good enough after falling behind 20-6 early in the second half.

Tony Smith’s men made too many errors and conceded too many penalties as they were punished by a Rovers team that took a grip of the tie midway through the first period on the back of the superior kicking game of scrum half Albert Kelly.

Considering the start made by Warrington, when Ryan Atkins scored on the very first set, it has to be said Wolves blew it.

So dominant in the opening exchanges when they had Rovers on the rack, they got too excited and failed to make the most of their opportunities.

That allowed KR to get a foothold in the game and their belief grew as Kelly took charge.

First-half tries from Australian wingers Josh Mantellato and Ken Sio handed the Robins a 12-6 first half lead and sloppy defending early in the second period handed Kevin Larroyer a score that proved to take KR out of reach despite scores from Richie Myler and Ben Currie getting Wolves back to within two points with 14 minutes remaining.

But Shaun Lunt – the hooker who lost in two finals against Wolves with Huddersfield and then Leeds – sealed it with a contentious score from dummy half five minutes from time.

Wolves’ start was superb, Gareth O’Brien finding the dead-ball line from the kick off and Atkins powering over from Stefan Ratchford’s pass after only 74 seconds. O’Brien added the extras from wide out as a bonus.

But then Wolves went into kamikazi mode, three successive penalties and a forward pass from fired-up Ashton Sims allowing Rovers to camp on the Warrington line.

Fumbles by back rowers Larroyer and Graeme Horne relieved that pressure in a frenetic opening.

Currie was held up short as Wolves turned the tide and a scramble from Myler’s kick resulted in Sam Wilde being prevented from crossing on the last tackle.

The kicking game of Kelly in particular and Maurice Blair then started to take effect.

Mantellato won a leap in the air to regather Kelly’s high kick but Ben Harrison was perfectly placed to pick up the pieces after the Italian international wingerl’s offload went to ground.

Wolves were forced into a 19th-minute change, Harrison taking a head knock and being replaced by Brad Dwyer who took over at hooker with Daryl Clark switching to loose forward.

But the pace at that stage was being pushed too much and both teams were guilty of too many errors in wet conditions, with a knock-on from Gene Ormsby and a subsequent penalty for a high tackle by Chris Hill being punished by Rovers.

Kelly, Blair and Kieran Dixon swept the ball wide for Mantellato to squeeze over with a dive into the corner despite the attentions of Ratchford. No conversion was added, but the gap was cut to 6-4 after 25 minutes.

A minute later the Robins were ahead for the first time, Kelly’s kick across field early in the tackle count being plucked from above Ormsby’s head by Sio and the former Parramatta teammate of Wolves new boy Chris Sandow was able to hare home unopposed.

With Mantellato adding the extras, Hull KR led 10-6 and that was improved to a six-point cushion in the 35th minute when Hill was penalised for holding down Kelly and the kick option was taken.

A desperate last-ditch tackle on Wilde prevented a certain Wolves try as Smith’s men looked to get back on level terms by half time.

Replacement hooker John Boudebza’s knock-on around the Rovers 40m line handed Wolves an early opportunity to strike in the second period.

Wolves reached the Rovers line but Dwyer’s grubber on the last tackle was easily picked up by Kelly.

Dixon’s forward pass from dummy half handed Wolves another chance to strike and a grubber from Myler looked a good bet when it rebounded off the foot of a post but O’Brien spilled his attempted regather and the chance went begging.

The price was paid on Rovers’ next set when French international Larroyer stayed on his feet in an attempt to wrestle his way to the line and somehow squeezed his arm out of the tackle by Roy Asotasi, Anthony England, Atkins and Ratchford to score. Mantellato’s extras made it 18-6 after 47 minutes.

A hefty James Green shoulder in the face of Ormsby left the Wolves winger leaving the field holding his jaw, meaning a switch to the winge for Atkins and a move to centre for Currie.

The incident, missed by referee Richard Silverwood, left Wolves two players short for the final 30 minutes and they were rocking as a seventh penalty for Rovers – contrasting to three for Wolves – was popped over by Mantellato to move the Robins two points nearer to Wembley.

Myler’s strong run from second receiver off O’Brien gave Wolves a lifeline in the 58th minute, with O’Brien’s conversion cutting the deficit to eight points.

Joel Monaghan was a finger-tip away for reducing the gap further soon after but he lost possession under the attentions of Dixon and Kris Welham in a spectacular dive for the corner.

A huge hit by Hill on Welham forced a knock on 10 metres from the Rovers line and Wolves made it count when Myler delayed the ball wonderfully for leading try scorer Currie to surge over and O’Brien’s kick left Wolves just two points behind at 20-18.

Then came the winner from Lunt, who looked to have been held by Clark before getting up and stretching out to score. Mantellato’s goal put Rovers eight points clear and out of reach as they booked a first appearance at Wembley since 1986.

Wolves fans were heading for the exits as it became clear it will be Rovers who face Leeds in the showdown on August 29, leaving Wolves having to attempt to pull back a four-points deficit in the Super 8s to be in the reckoning for a Grand Final shot.

Wolves: Stefan Ratchford; Joel Monaghan, Gary Wheeler, Ryan Atkins, Gene Ormsby; Gareth O'Brien, Richie Myler; Chris Hill, Daryl Clark, Ashton Sims, Sam Wilde, Ben Currie, Ben Harrison. Subs: Brad Dwyer, Roy Asotasi, Joe Philbin, Anthony England.

Hull KR: Kieran Dixon; Josh Mantellato, Kris Welham, Liam Salter, Ken Sio; Maurice Blair, Albert Kelly; Adam Walker, Shaun Lunt, Tony Puletua, Kevin Larroyer, Graeme Horne, Tyrone McCarthy. Subs: John Boudebza, James Donaldson, James Green, Dane Tilse.

Referee: Richard Silveerwood