TWO OUT OF TWO

It was their second bonus point victory of the season, which proved to be enough to send them to the top of the table, albeit after just two rounds of the competition so far.

As happened in the same fixture last season, it took a couple of purple patches at crucial stages of the game which eventually got the visitors over the finishing line.

Before that, though, Aspull had showed that they had plenty to offer, and will have been disappointed to have ended the game with nothing at all to show for their efforts.

In a game played in blistering heat and bright sunshine, the early stages were a real arm wrestle with little or nothing to choose between the pair.

Both teams did create some half chances but defences were always on top. The deadlock remained until the 21st minute, when Kevin Leadbetter converted a penalty to put the visitors in front.

Just four minutes later, the Emu’s were back on level terms when stand-off Carlton Jones converted a well-struck penalty to make it 3 – 3.

On the half hour mark, the Wids cut loose with another quickly taken penalty, which ended with Jack Krause getting over for a try on the wide outside. Kevin Leadbetter then added a super touchline conversion to make it 10 – 3 for the visitors.

A mistake from the re-start immediately invited Widnes to attack again, and Josh Kenyon was on hand to time his pass to perfection and send Jack Krause over for his second try. With Kevin Leadbetter again on target, the visitors had suddenly opened up a 14-point advantage.

That lead would be short-lived, however, as Aspull cut through the Wids defence to send centre Joe Knight over for a try between the posts, which Calton Jones converted to reduce the deficit to just seven points at half-time.

Widnes chose to ring the changes at the break, and introduced both Tom O’Neill and Dan Rourke, soon to be followed by Ciaran O’Donnell.

Aspull got the second half underway, but when they were penalised for holding on, the Wids were quick to make them pay as Jack Krause crossed to complete his hat-trick.

The home side then chose the wrong option for a second time, and were immediately made to pay once again, as some crisp handling ended with Liam Lawton crossing for yet another try in double quick time.

This time, Kevin Leadbetter was able to add the difficult conversion to make the score 29 – 10 in favour of the visitors.

Looking more in control now, Jamie Patient then had a ‘try’ scratched off by the official, before the visitors were able to add a fifth try through Keiron Arndell, although it did look like there might have more than a hint of luck about the score as the wing forward crashed over in the corner.

Ultimately, that proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the Emu’s, and although they did everything they could to try and re-establish a foothold in the game, they were just too far behind with precious little time left on the clock to mount any kind of rescue mission.

Head coach Andy McIntosh said afterwards “Really pleased with the lad’s performance today. We improved on the things we aimed to fix up from last week and stuck to the task.

Aspull are a good side and came off a solid win last week. They defended strongly and absorbed lots of pressure in the first half. We managed to break them down in the second period and really kicked on to earn a bonus point win away from home. Now it’s about improving again and backing it up next week”.