Vikings cannot shake off Devils
Catalans Dragons (H), First Utility Super League, Select Security Stadium, Sunday, Kick-Off 3pm
WIDNES went down 32-24 to Salford in a seesaw game at the Select Security Stadium last Friday evening.
It was the third time this season the Vikings have come out second best to the Red Devils with never more than eight points between the sides.
Winger Mason Caton-Brown crossed for a hat-trick for the visitors while impressive forward Matt Whitley notched a brace for the Vikings.
Widnes boss Denis Betts was quick to praise his young backrower but admitted he was frus- trated after seeing his side lose to Salford yet again.
He said: “Matt’s been playing really well.
“He’s 19 years of age and I don’t think he expected to play as much as he has, but the injuries we’ve had this year have put the pressure on and he’s matured into that position.
“There are two or three errors in him we need to get rid of but we need everything else he’s got.
“Today summed up our year. I’m just frustrated.
“I’m frustrated with the players, with some of the things we did.
“We’ve got ourselves in a tight game and end up losing it when we’ve had great discipline, loads of possession, loads of field-position – but we lacked composure and patience at times.
“We made one or two stupid errors and caused ourselves lots of problems.
“Salford are fighting hard for ninth spot to give them that extra home game in the Qualifiers but we wanted to win here today.
“We lacked the punch to put them down when we could have done.
“They just seem to have had the wood over us this year.
“We’ve still got lots to play for. We want to play to not feel like this!
“We did lots of good things today but we make one error or have one lack of focus and they score a try.”
Caton-Brown did not take long to show his undoubted speed as he flashed past opposite number Patrick Ah Van and powered through Rhys Hanbury’s attempted cover tackle to give his side a 6-0 lead.
After exerting a spell of pressure on the opposition line, Widnes drew level when Whitley stormed on to a Lloyd White pass to coast in from 20 metres.
White went close to giving his side the lead but lost the ball on the Salford tryline and the Red Devils quickly swept up the other end where Justin Carney finished off a flowing move to make it 12-6.
With five minutes of the first
half remaining, the Vikings again levelled things up when centre Charly Runciman did well to offload to Ah Van who romped over.
A cagey start to the second half was brought to life when Salford stand-off Robert Lui’s backhanded offload released Junior Sa’u who in turn fed Caton-Brown for his second converted try to reestablish his side’s six-point lead.
Widnes skipper Kevin Brown left the field injured after a collision with Ben Murdoch-Masila but that didn’t stop his side almost immediately drawing level again when Whitley profited from Joe Mellor’s short ball to complete his brace.
Parity was shortlived as Josh Jones sneaked over on last tackle for the visitors to make it 22-18 and two penalty goals extended the Salford lead to eight points with seven minutes remaining.
The Vikings gave themselves a sniff when quick hands allowed Corey Thompson to squeeze over by the right corner with White converting superbly.
However, a spilled ball on first tackle from the restart saw the Red Devils close the game out with Caton-Brown’s hat-trick score. WIDNES VIKINGS: Hanbury; Thompson, Marsh, Runciman, Ah Van; Mellor, Brown; Burke, White, Buchanan, Whitley, Dean, Houston. Subs: Heremaia, Cahill, Farrell, Manuokafoa. SALFORD RED DEVILS: O’Brien; Caton-Brown, J Griffin, Sa’u, Carney; Lui, Dobson; Kopczak, Tomkins, G Griffin, Murdoch-Masila, Jones, Flanagan. Subs: Hauraki, Krasniqi, Kenny, Evalds. STAR MAN: Matt Whitley – Two deserved tries for the hard-running back-rower. REFEREE: Gareth Hewer ( Whitehaven) ATTENDANCE: 4,636