No walk in the Park for Sedgley

Whilst it was the Widnes backs that put the points on the board, it was off the back of a hardworking performance in the forwards, who provided a solid platform of quality ball. Will Patient, Dom Oxley and Sean Glover led the way with a combination of some excellent defence and powerful running with ball in hand.
It didn’t take long for Tom Whitfield to put the first points on the score board. His initial break and some good support play from Allan Breeden resulted in a scrum 5 metres out for the visitors. Quick ball from the back of the scrum and fast hands from the backs saw Whitfield cross in the corner to get Widnes off the mark.
The Wids next try came from a line out deep in their own half; Luke Beyga jumping at 4 caught the ball cleanly and scrum half Jones sent full back Dan Doyle on his way. Doyle made good metres before being brought down, but with the Wids pack in support the ball was quickly recycled, allowing Salesi Tuiono and Lewis Bates to link up well and put Matt Geraghty in for his first of the afternoon. Alex Jones added the extras.
The next score was another excellent team effort that came from the Wids putting together 6 phases of play. Tom Whitfield was involved twice making good metres on both occasions and disrupting the home sides defence. Full back Doyle joined the line well to take a crisp pass from Breeden and race in for the third score of the half. Jones was once again successful with the boot.
At 19 points ahead on the scoreboard the Wids were looking comfortable, but the opposition were making them work hard for every point. Sedgley had good spells of possession but found it hard to break down the dogged Widnes defence; and in attack Widnes were just more clinical, taking their chances when they arose.
Sedgley were rewarded for their persistence, when off the back of repeat phases their pack were able to work slowly up field, providing a platform for their backs to cross for what would be their only score of the game.
It was a nervous ending to the first half with Widnes having to defend their line for the final 5 minutes. Sedgley elected to run 3 penalties in a row inside the Widnes 22, threatening the Widnes line with strong forward drives; but Widnes held firm, eventually forcing a knock on from their opponents and bringing the half to a close with the score at 5-19.
The second half opened with the Wids winning a penalty 20 metres out. A quick tap from Jones and short ball to Breeden allowed the No.8 to run between 2 defenders and score under the uprights, making the 2 points straightforward for kicker Alex Jones.
Ten minutes later Matt Geraghty went in for his second of the afternoon, cutting back inside to beat 3 defenders on his way to the line. The move had started with Will Patient ripping the ball from the opposition to set up an attacking ruck, Jones then opted to attack the short blindside and 2 excellent short balls, the first from Rob Cooke and the second from Allan Breeden set Geraghty off on his way to the line. Again Jones comfortably tagged on the extra 2 points.
With a 28 point advantage and the game in the bag at 5-33 Widnes were perhaps a bit guilty of trying to beat one man to many for the remainder of the second half. Despite scoring a further 3 tries it could have been more if they’d have been as clinical as they were in the first half.
With 10 minutes remaining, scrum half Alex Jones scored after Breeden had picked the ball up from the back of a scrum 25 metres out, and provided Jones with the opportunity to further increase the Wids advantage. Jones converted his own try.
Salesi Tuiono rounded off a solid afternoons work when he skilfully switched the direction of attack with a cheeky dummy, shot through the resulting gap, and provided a perfect pass for Josh Salter to beat the covering defence and score in the corner.
A quickly taken tap penalty by Jones, 10 metres from the Sedgley line, resulted in Rob Cooke scoring the final try of the game. With a couple of defenders doing their best to force him out of play Cooke had to work hard to go over in the corner. With perhaps his best conversion of the game Jones made it 6 from 8 attempts, and took his personnel points tally to 17 for the afternoon.
With forwards and backs combining well Widnes kept the scoreboard ticking over, and quick thinking and fast hands created some superb tries. Their opponents worked hard and ran well but ultimately struggled to create gaps in a strong Widnes defence. Once again with no substitutes the fifteen men who took to the field showed that they are more than willing to keep going for the full game.