STEVE Price has highlighted the moment at which he thought today’s Challenge Cup semi final turned against his Warrington Wolves side.

Ben Murdoch-Masila’s try put The Wire 10 points ahead inside the final quarter of the match in dreadful conditions at the Totally Wicked Stadium.

However, a strong comeback from Salford Red Devils saw them snatch a 24-22 victory and end Warrington’s dreams of a third consecutive Wembley final.

> VOTE: Choose your Wire man of the match from semi-final defeat

Warrington Guardian:

A dejected Blake Austin reflects on defeat. Picture by Mike Boden

They will face Leeds Rhinos at the national stadium on October 17 while Price and his side reflect on what might have been.

“Benny Murds scored to put us 10 up at that stage,” he said.

“They kicked off and we couldn’t retrieve the ball.

“It went dead in that left-hand corner and they scored off that set. It snowballed from there.”

Warrington Guardian:

Ben Murdoch-Masila's try put The Wire 10 points ahead. Picture by Mike Boden

Joey Lussick’s winning try with five minutes remaining put The Wire behind in the game for the very first time – they had been in front since Toby King’s 14th-minute effort opened the scoring.

They could never fully shake Salford off, though, and they were made to pay for an error-strewn display.

Leeds had shown how to master the wet and windy conditions perfectly in the first game as they saw off Wigan 26-12, but this was a contest in which both sides struggled to control the ball.

> Re-live Wire's heartbreaking semi-final loss as it happened

“We were in control of the game for 73 minutes I think,” Price said.

“We had 14 errors for the game and I think we completed at about 64 per cent.

“Basic fundamentals really hurt us today – they scored three tries off kicks and then the dummy-half try off Lussick.

“I’m gutted for the playing group and the whole club. We put so much effort in to get to this point.

“We had it there for 73 or 74 minutes and we just couldn’t quite get it done in the end. The effort was there but it was minor things that caught up with us.”

Perhaps another key moment was losing hooker Daryl Clark, who had to go off for a concussion assessment in the later stages of the game.

Warrington Guardian:

Price confirmed Clark passed the test and was even able to return to the field for the closing seconds.

“He got a bit of a head knock off Dan Sarginson so it was unfortunate,” he said.

“He managed to get out there for the last 30 seconds so he’s not too bad.

“Daz is one of our mainstays and is a great player for our team, but I don’t think it played a part.

“It was tough conditions to play in but for the majority of the game, we were handling it better than they were.”