They were pushed all the way though by an Altrincham Kersal side who never gave up the fight and refused to throw in the towel even when they trailed by a nineteen-point margin.

On reflection, the Wids, can, in the main, put their victory down to a terrific twenty five minute defensive spell in the second half, before being able to hit AK with a double whammy, which gave them enough momentum to go on and complete the job in hand.

So, having avoided this particular ‘banana skin’ they can now enjoy a week off in good spirits, reflect on progress thus far, and prepare for their next big challenge against Burnage on 22nd November.

The weather for the game was dry and fairly bright, but there was a stiff, chilly wind blowing across the pitch, which was in great condition and ideal for a quick, open contest.

Widnes had to make a few changes for the game; with the ‘new breed’ of Charlie Feeley, Dan Rourke, and Ed Price all missing. Back in though, came Sam Fitsimon and Sam Bryan, whilst Arnie Haydock made his first appearance at prop, along with Craig Lawton who was debuting from the bench.

Playing in the unfamiliar colours of yellow shirts, the Wids were in receipt of the early possession, and there were a couple of strong runs from Tom O’Neill and Allan Breeden.

The home side then grabbed hold of possession for a while, before successive Wids penalties got them close, before Rio Hamlett then had a ‘try’ ruled out for a forward pass.

After 13 minutes, things did come right for the visitors, as a smart line out take from Mike Jones was effortlessly fed along the backline to get Sam Fitzsimon over in the corner for a try.

Liam McGovern then added the difficult touchline conversion to make it 0 - 7.

Almost straight away, Widnes coughed up a penalty, from where the AK pack got to work to get Jack Gallimore over for a try which was converted by Rob Holloway to square things up.

After that, the Wids could, and probably should, have scored some more points, but the opportunities continued to elude them. That was until the 34th minute, when Lewis George’s smart inside kick was collected on the full by Gavin Hatton who crossed for the try.

Another successful conversion from the trusty boot of McGovern increased their advantage to seven points.

After that, the Wids appeared to do their best to press the self-destruct button with some silly mistakes and poor kicks out of hand, which left them hanging on at the break, which fortunately they were able to do.

The visitors made a couple of changes at the break with Keiron Arndell coming on and Rio Hamlett returning.

The second half began as the first half had ended, with the home side piling on the early pressure. They were also being helped along by a couple of Widnes errors alongside a handful of penalties. Fortunately, the visitors defence was able to remain strong, and they were able to keep their line intact.

On 55 minutes, Craig Lawton then made his first appearance from the bench, whilst captain Tom O’Neill returned after receiving treatment for a cut to the head.

After that, the Wids were forced to absorb yet more pressure, before finally being able to cut loose from distance, allowing Kevin Leadbetter to show some terrific football skills and touch down for a try following an awkward inside pass from Sam Fitzsimon.

With McGovern’s conversion also going over, there was now a little more daylight between the pair on the scoreboard.

And that margin would be widened a little further five minutes later, as hooker Reuben Mafi showed calmness and maturity to dummy his way over the line for a try to make it 7 – 26 on the scoreboard.

Fighting for their very lives now, AK came roaring back to lay siege to the Widnes line only to be repelled repeatedly by yet more outstanding scrambling defence.

Finally, though, their resistance did crack as number eight Dauncey crashed over from close range for a converted score.

Four minutes later, the Wids were undone once again, and another converted try from the home side made it game on again at 21 – 26.

Fortunately, the Wids were not ready to throw away all of the previous hard work, and when the ball was swung out wide, wing man Lewis George was able to chip the ball over the top of the advancing defence before touching down for their fifth try of the afternoon.

After that, things became somewhat confusing as both teams suddenly became more interested in each other, rather than playing out the last few minutes of what had been a pulsating contest.

All that ended with the referee producing three yellow cards before the home side grabbed a late converted score before the final whistle sounded which finally brought an end to proceedings.

Head coach Liam McGovern said afterwards "Today was a real potential banana skin for us, with Altrincham proving with their previous results that they are very close to a first win of the season.

I thought we were excellent in patches and scored some outstanding tries. Ball in hand we are looking very dangerous and structurally the players are improving every week.

Defensively was again brilliant at times. We defended our try line for long periods without conceding which is a credit to the lad’s attitude.

Overall, a five-point win away from home is always a great result.

I don’t think the scoreline reflected our dominance and at 7 - 26 we should have kicked on and made the lead bigger. But that is something we will work on this week and keep improving".

Widnes: C O’Donnell, S Fitzsimon, J Patient, K Leadbetter, L George, L McGovern, G Hatton, R Hamlett, R Mafi, A Haydock, M Garrity, S Bryan, M Jones, A Breeden, T O’Neill (c). Reps: S Whitty, K Arndell, C Lawton.