Warrington coach Tony Smith admits Keighley must be sick of the sight of the Tetley’s Challenge Cup holders after they were on the end of a fourth-round hiding from them for the third year in a row.

Smith took no chances against the Kingstone Press Championship part-timers, fielding 11 members of the side that beat Leeds in last August’s Wembley final, and he was rewarded with a ruthless display that brought a 74-4 victory at Cougar Park.

Centre Ryan Atkins scored four of the holders’ 13 tries while 19-year-old prop Glenn Riley marked his senior debut with a well-taken touchdown as the visitors cruised into tomorrow’s fifth-round draw.

“We came here with a strong team – we only had two debutants – because we needed to get on top of some aspects of our game,” Smith said. “We needed a good hit-out.”

The Wolves led only 26-0 at half-time but, playing downhill with the wind at their backs, they stepped up a gear at the start of the second half, scoring six tries in a 14-minute purple patch.

“All credit to Keighley. That’s our third year in a row with them and they’re getting sick of us. But they showed a lot of fortitude.”

Warrington wingmen Chris Riley and Rhys Williams both scored two tries apiece and skipper Brett Hodgson finished with 26 points from a try and 11 conversions.

Keighley were trailing 62-0 when full-back Paul White scored their solitary try but player-coach Paul March insists his players ought to be proud of their performance against familiar star-studded opponents.

“I hope we get someone else next year,” he said. “You always want to play against the best and they certainly brought their best team.

“We’ll take a lot out of today. We’ve played against some of the best players in the world.

“We battled away for 80 minutes, even though the scoreline suggests we didn’t. We created a lot of opportunities against a Super League side.

“We came into this game with four wins out of four and full of confidence and it’s up to us now to make that sure that confidence hasn’t been knocked out of us.”