DEFENCE ON TOP AS WIDNES TRIUMPH

But they were pushed all the way by a determined Tarleton side, who contributed greatly to this contest, and could themselves have gone home with the spoils in what was a really exciting and competitive game.

They did, however, leave with a losing bonus point, whilst it was the host side who ultimately emerged victorious after an outstanding defensive effort and collect the four points.

The previous few days had seen Storm Ciaran doing its best to spoil the party by causing the game to be postponed. But the sterling work carried out on the morning of the game by a willing group of volunteers, made sure that it was ‘game on’.

The Widnes side included Jack Krause and Keiron Arndell who had both been missing for the last five weeks because of injury. Also back in the squad was Josh Paton, whilst there was a debut appearance at scrum half for Declan Rice.

With the elements in their favour, Widnes got the game underway, and after a half break from Allan Breeden, some smart handling across the back line saw Gavin Hatton dive over for an early score.

The pressure from the home side continued, and after ten minutes Kevin Leadbetter converted a penalty to make it 8 – nil.

After that, Tarleton began to establish a real foothold in this contest and really piled on the pressure through the work of their outstanding pack of forwards. Fortunately, the Wids defensive line held strong and managed to repel everything that their opponents could throw at them.

Then, when the visitors attacked once again, a timely interception and forty metre dash from Mike Jones helped keep the home side’s line intact.

As the half drew to a close, Tarleton then had a great opportunity to put their first points on the bord as centre Dan Mallinson intercepted a pass to race clear only to be pulled down by some excellent Widnes scrambling defence.

In the final moments, there was an exciting kick and chase involving Jack Krause, but that proved to be the final action of the first period, and the Wids went in leading by 8pts – nil.

As the second half got underway Tarleton now had the elements in their favour, and it wasn’t long before their big pack got close enough for prop forward Richard Steele to crash over for an early try.

At 8pts – 5 it was now game on again, and Widnes had to absorb a whole load more pressure as the visitors continued their assault inside their opponents 22-metre danger zone.

When Widnes did finally break free of their defensive shackles, there was an exciting run from Jamie Patient, whilst a diagonal kick ahead from Mike Jones could have produced more.

After 63 minutes, though, some smart work by the Wids forwards paid dividends as Arnie Haydock crashed over from close range for a try which was then converted by Kevin Leadbetter.

That meant a little bit of extra breathing space on the scoreboard for the Wids, but that wasn’t to last very long as Will Parker came up with another try for Tarleton which was converted by Sam Mallinson to make the score 15 – 12.

With enough time left on the clock, the home side now needed to be on their guard during the closing minutes as Tarleton sensed that victory was still within their reach.

As it was, the Wids probably had the better of those chances to add further points. But in the worsening conditions and the ball now like a bar of soap, they were just happy to get themselves over the finishing line and claim the four league points.

For the home side, Jack Gilhooley continued to enhance his reputation with a man of the match performance, whilst scrum half Rice had an outstanding debut. For the visitors, Kyle Horner was a tower of strength at hooker.

Head coach Andy McIntosh said afterwards “Absolutely delighted with today’s result - the effort in defence was outstanding.

We bombed a few chances in the first half that could have made it so much easier, but the lads put in a real spirited performance to come out on top at the end of 80 minutes.

We continue to develop as a squad and next week we look forward to an away trip to Wilmslow”.

Widnes: L Lawton, J Krause, J Patient, R Millington, G Hatton, K Leadbetter, D Rice, A Haydock, B Mercer, M Lawton, J Gilhooley, M Garrity, W Patient, A Breeden, M Jones (c). Reps: K Arndell, S Whitty, J Paton