They are now fifth in the table a point behind Vale of Lune, and within touching distance of North Ribblesdale and Douglas (IOM) whom they face this coming weekend.

Jamie Patient was the hero of the hour scoring two tries, as the 'red-and-blacks' fought back from a 14-nil deficit, to eventually get themselves over the finishing line to claim the four league points on offer.

Meanwhile, Burnage might well be asking themselves how they managed to lose this game after building up a healthy advantage - and looking good value for their lead - only for them to miss out in the final analysis.

Not that any of the home supporters will be overly concerned about that. This one was all about the result, and they cannot have been anything other than delighted with their team’s efforts particularly in the second half.

Things, however, did not get off to the best of starts for the home side as their preparation was severely disrupted by a late player withdrawal which then resulted in several enforced positional changes.

Consequently, the home side struggled to gain any real momentum during the opening half hour, by which time they had managed to fall behind to two converted scores and trail by fourteen points.

It took until the 33rd minute for the Wids to slowly begin to wake from their slumbers, where some quick fired handling saw Kevin Leadbetter release Jamie Patient who crashed over for a try which was converted by Liam McGovern.

Burnage then had an opportunity to re-establish some of their advantage with a penalty, but the effort from Grant Connon was wide of the target.

Almost immediately, though, Widnes responded in style as Allan Breeden burst through the narrowest of gaps in trademark style, before racing home from thirty-five metres for a try beneath the uprights which McGovern easily converted.

So, from being almost out of sight on the scoreboard, the Wids were now back on level terms as the half drew to a close.

The late score and whatever was said at half time seemed to do the trick, and in those opening few minutes, the Wids looked brighter and quicker about the field.

However, it was Burnage who were able to regain their lead with a successful penalty kick from Connon before McGovern just missed with a potential three-pointer for the Wids after fifty minutes.

Successive penalties then allowed Burnage to make their way upfield, which enabled Connon to convert another penalty and give the away team a six-point cushion.

Five minutes later, the advantage was back to just three points as McGovern converted another Wids penalty and make it game on again with plenty of time remaining.

At a crucial stage of the game, Burnage then lost a player into the sin-bin, and as so often happens in these situations, they were made to pay the price as Jamie Patient burst through from centre field to score his second try underneath the posts.

Liam McGovern then added the conversion, which meant that Widnes were now in the lead for the first time in the match.

After that, it was real nip and tuck stuff with Widnes having to defend their own line under some intense Burnage pressure.

In the end, though, the home side were able to keep their line intact for the remainder of the contest and see out the closing minutes before finally being able to claim victory.

Head coach Liam McGovern said afterwards “Today was always going to be a big challenge with key personnel missing from the team, but the lads who came in were fantastic.

We expected a tough encounter this afternoon and that is exactly what we got.

A very well drilled Burnage started much better than us, but there was never any panic. We spoke about sticking to our structures which got us back into the game and deservedly got us the win in the end.

It wasn't pretty at times, but a big win it was, and it stands us in good stead for another exciting challenge away at Douglas next weekend who are unbeaten at home so far this season.

I would just like to say a big thank you to all the Widnes supporters today, their support and positive noise is greatly appreciated by the players which certainly helped us in the tough stages of the game.”