WIDNES BOOK SECOND ROUND PLACE

And, they were rewarded with a 24pts – 10 victory to progress into the next round of the competition, where a trip to Sunderland awaits this coming Saturday.

Pushed all the way by a determined Yorkshire outfit, they scored four quality tries through; Jack Krause, Jamie Patient (2), and Liam Lawton, whilst Kevin Leadbetter also added two conversions.

On the back of last week’s effort of securing promotion into Regional 2 North West, this was never going to easy game against a side who had enjoyed an outstanding campaign in 2023/24, finishing third in Yorkshire 1, as well as reaching the final of the Shield competition.

But at the end of the day, it was the Wids outstanding defence, along with their ability to counter attack from anywhere on the field, that got them over the finishing line and progress into the next round of this prestigious National competition.

Not for the first time, the Heath Road pitches were again suffering because of the wet weather over the previous however many weeks, and it took yet another herculean effort by a willing group of volunteers, who worked tirelessly to get the playing surface dried out and ready for rugby.

And their efforts did not go un-rewarded as the game went ahead in front of a large, expectant crowd of supporters.

Not that the Wids had it all their own way - particularly during the opening quarter - when they were completely starved of both possession and field position, and it was only their impressive defence that kept Keighley at bay.

During that time, the visitors only success was an 11th minute penalty from stand-off Finley Meegan which gave them just a narrow three-point advantage.

Then, after being under the cosh for so long, things suddenly came right for the home side, as they were able to throw off the shackles of their extended defensive duties, to attack from depth; where great hands sent Jack Krause clear on a mazy 50 metre dash to the line for a super try.

Shortly afterwards, the visitors then had a chance to regain the lead with a long-range penalty effort from Meegan, but this time the effort fell short of the target.

Widnes then broke free on the opposite flank, but on this occasion, the elusive Krause was hauled down. But the home side would not be denied for long though, as Liam Lawton’s lovely timed pass sent Jamie Patient through a big hole in the Keighley defence to score a try.

This time, Kevin Leadbetter was on hand to add the conversion, to send his team in at the break leading by 12pts – 3.

The home side chose to make some changes at the break, which appeared to serve them well, as a Keighley error from the restart was capitalised upon by the Wids, enabling Jamie Patient (pictured) to quickly add his second try of the afternoon, and give the home side a little bit of breathing space on the scoreboard.

Keighley then had another spell on attack, but once again they were met by yet more impressive Wids defence.

On the hour mark, the ‘red-and-blacks’ then dealt the visitors a hammer blow, as Allan Breeden broke free before calmly handing on to the supporting Liam Lawton who strolled in behind the posts to score their fourth try.

With Kevin Leadbetter then adding the conversion, the score was now 24 – 3 in favour of the Wids.

Soon afterwards, though, Alex Brown then scored a great individual effort for the visitors with Meegan adding the extras to make it 24 – 10.

Ultimately, that proved to be the last real action of the afternoon. The remainder of the game passed without and real incident, and Widnes went on to book their place – and a long-distance trip to the North East – in the second round.

Head coach Andy McIntosh “It’s always good to test yourself in these national competitions against the best teams in adjacent leagues, and this today was a great result against a strong Keighley team who put us under some real pressure in that first half.

Our defence stood up to the test well, and when we managed to secure some possession after 25 minutes, we hit them with two great tries at the end of that first half. That gave us the platform and confidence to kick on in the second half and we controlled the game much better.

Penalties and unforced errors made it hard at times and slowed our progress today, and the lads know there are things to improve on as we go into the next round. A top squad effort overall which drove that performance and earned us the win”.

Widnes: A Jones, J Krause, J Patient, L Lawton, G Hatton, K Leadbetter, J Salter, A Haydock, B Mercer, M Lawton, M Garrity, S Bryan, M Jones, W Patient, T O’Neill (c). Reps: D Rourke, A Breeden, T Spencer, J Gilhooley, P Makles, K Arndell.