A Winning Start!

As last season’s Champions, the red-and-blacks had a long and proud unbeaten run to defend, and they showed that they were determined not to let this one slip.

The weather for the game was almost perfect; the sun was shining, and the pitch was firm and lush and ideal for some free flowing rugby on the opening day of the new season.

There was an early exchange of penalties mixed in with one or two handling errors before Widnes fullback Andy Owens kicked his side in front with a three pointer after just five minutes.

Fleetwood looked lively on occasions in those opening exchanges, but too often were found guilty of making several unforced errors and conceding far too many penalties, one of which contributed to a try after some quick thinking from Justin Winstanley who crashed over from close range with Owens again adding the extras.

Shortly afterwards, another Fleetwood mistake saw some smart Wids approach work pay further dividends which saw Gavin Hatton pop up for a try on the opposite flank.

A touchline conversion from Andy Owens meant the Wids were scoring at a rate of a point a minute and the signs weren’t looking good for the league newcomers.

Almost immediately though, a well worked move in midfield, saw Fleetwood stand-off Tom Evans slice his way through a static Wids defence and race home from 60 metres for a superb try which he also converted to make it 17 – 7.

Despite the try, the self-inflicted Fleetwood errors continued, and normal service on the scoreboard was soon restored as further smart, quick handling, got centre Liam Lawton in for another Wids try.

Just five minutes before the break a bout of fisticuffs broke out, and when order was restored, the officials brandished a red card to dismiss a player from each side.

Despite the urgent reshuffle, Widnes were able to respond the quickest, and Jamie Patient was able to time his run to perfection as he collected Liam Lawton’s short pass to race over untouched for another valuable try.

Andy Owens added the easy conversion which gave his side a 29 – 7 half time lead.

If Fleetwood had ambitions to rescue something from this game, then they really needed to be the next team on the score sheet. And, for a while at least they blasted away at the Widnes line looking for a way through.

However, the Wids were in no mood to simply roll over, and, after absorbing plenty of pressure through some excellent scrambling defence, they finally broke free of their defensive shackles which allowed Gavin Hatton to shrug off a couple of would-be tacklers before racing in behind the posts for his second try.

Owens conversion made it 36 – 7, and it wasn’t long before Tom O’Neill blasted his way over from 20 metres for yet another converted try.

With the floodgates threatening to open, a speculative Gavin Hatton kick wasn’t dealt with effectively by the Fleetwood defence, which allowed Andy Owens to hack the ball on before touching the ball down for another try which he also converted to bring up the half century of points.

After that, though, much of the remainder of the game all went a bit scrappy.

Firstly, Mike Jones left the field with a knock, before Fleetwood were awarded a penalty try much to the dismay of a Wids player who voiced his concerns to the official a little too loudly and found himself invited to spend the next ten minutes on the sideline.

Next up, was another long range kick and chase from Jamie Patient which saw that man Owens following up before showing a clean pair of heels to calmly pick up and score his second try which he also converted.

The last word, though, was saved for the visitors, who responded with a late, well worked try from Stephen Woodburne and conversion from Tom Evans before proceedings were finally brought to a close.

Head coach Andy McIntosh said afterwards “I was very pleased with the lad’s commitment today. Fleetwood were a bit of an unknown quantity today but we worked hard, played out our game plan and played some really good rugby.

He continued “It was a great start for us, but it is a long season and it will be a bit different and a lot tighter next week when we welcome Oldham. Today’s game was played in good spirits and it was disappointing to see a one off incident end up with a red card for both sides".