Dragons put to the sword
Joe Mellor turns out a manof-the-match performance
WIDNES did neighbours St Helens a favour by sending Catalans Dragons crashing to their sixth defeat in a row with a 32-4 win at the Select Security Stadium.
The result means Saints now finish fourth at the end of the regular Super League season thanks to their run of five successive league wins, with the French outfit having to settle for fifth spot and an extra away match in the Super 8s.
Scrum-half Joe Mellor turned in a man-of-the-match display for Widnes on his 100th Super League appearance.
The Vikings led 14-4 at the break with tries from Corey Thompson, who also booted three goals, and Patrick Ah Van.
The Dragons could only reply with a Dave Taylor touchdown and Widnes sealed an emphatic victory as Mellor, Aaron Heremaia and Stefan Marsh, who also landed three conversions, all crossed in the second half.
Widnes were missing Rhys Hanbury, who lost his ever present Super League record this season with a shoulder injury, with Thompson taking over at full-back and centre Marsh switching to the wing for his 100th club appearance.
Chris Dean moved from the pack into the centre as Widnes avenged their 21-8 defeat in Perpignan in April.
The Dragons welcomed back Jodie Broughton, Todd Carney and Glenn Stewart with Pat Richards and Willie Mason absent after the shock home defeat by Wakefield.
Widnes went ahead after eight minutes with Mellor’s towering kick bouncing awkwardly for the Catalans defence.
Chris Houston and Charly Runciman combined to send Thompson racing over with the emergency full back tagging on the conversion.
Catalan replied almost immediately with Taylor using his brute strength to bulldoze through the Widnes cover but Carney missed the straightforward conversion attempt from in front of the posts.
It was end-to-end play and, after a mistake by Carney, Widnes extended their lead with Ah Van out-jumping Fouad Yaha to collect Brown’s kick and score in the corner.
A scintillating 50-metre break by Mellor almost brought another try before Thompson kicked a goal after the Dragons were penalised for a high tackle.
Widnes certainly weren’t looking like a side who had lost six of their last seven home matches and Thompson added another penalty after a high tackle by Eloi Pelissier.
Catalans were let down by their ill-discipline in the first half, but failed to convert a spell of pressure after the break as Eloi Pelissier was held up over the Widnes line and the Vikings desperately defended to keep out Stewart.
A tackle by Ah Van forced Ben Garcia to lose possession and Mellor darted over for a try, with Marsh converting.
Heremaia exposed some woeful defence to notch the VIkings’ fourth try and Marsh went over two minutes from time and booted the touchline conversion.