Vikings do show spirit to the end
Saturday, September 29, 1990 PLAYING Salford in the Lancashire Cup Final, having led 12-4 at one point, the Chemics found themselves trailing by six points.
It needed an inspired comeback in the final 12 minutes to lift the trophy.
A Jonathan Davies penalty and tries from Andy Currier and Tony Myler, converted from under the posts, earned the eight point lead before Salford went 18-12 ahead after the break.
Kurt Sorensen put Peter Smith over before Martin Offiah scored the decisive try five minutes from time with Davies’s successful conversions sealing the 24-18 win. ● Widnes Vikings: On This Day is available now at £9.99 from the Vikings Superstore. CASTLEFORD TIGERS .............. 40 WIDNES VIKINGS ...................... 26
WIDNES ended their 2016 campaign with a defeat but still managed to show their fighting spirit against Castleford Tigers.
It was an emotional day for the home fans at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle on Sunday afternoon as they said farewell to retiring fullback Luke Dorn.
And with winger Denny Solomona hovering on the brink of a try-scoring record, it felt a bit like a party to which the Vikings were only reluctantly invited.
With his team guaranteed to finish in seventh spot, Widnes boss Denis Betts took the opportunity to give game-time to some of the younger members of his squad.
The Chapelhow boys, Jay and Ted, became the first twin brothers to play at competitive firstteam level together for Widnes since Lee and Sam Hansen back in 1996.
And half-back Tom Gilmore had a chance to show his wares in the absence of suspended skipper Kevin Brown.
There was a point in the second half where it looked as though the Vikings might get swamped.
But three late tries gave the final scoreline of 40-26 an air of respectability.
Betts said: “We had our patches in the game but our patches weren’t as good as the opposition’s patches! We had opportunities to score more points but we dropped too much ball.
“We were working at a 60% completion rate and you can’t win a game on the short pitch here like that. You need a fair share of the ball and we didn’t give ourselves a chance.
“I was really pleased with the Chapelhow boys – they didn’t look out of place today.
“They’re just 21 years of age and they’ve still got some meat to put on their bones. But they know what they want, they’ve had a taste of it and a few years down the line they’ll be better again. That’s what we’ve got to develop.”
Widnes started with a short kick-off and on securing possession the Tigers immediately went wide – perhaps an early indication of both sides’ attitude.
The Vikings drew first blood when Gilmore’s intelligent kick into the in-goal was tapped back by Hep Cahill and second-row Connor Farrell pounced on the loose ball.
Lloyd White slotted over the simple conversion.
Castleford got themselves on the board on 16 minutes with a try that brought the house down – not so much for its quality, but the fact that the scorer was Dorn as he profited from a Jake Webster offload.
The Tigers’ left edge has been the source of many of their tries this season and it was proving dangerous again.
Quick hands released Solomona whose nifty footwork took him inside the covering Widnes defence for a try converted by Luke Gale.
Having been under the cosh for a sustained period, the Vikings broke out when Corey Thompson beat several defenders after fielding a kick on his own line and linked up with Rhys Hanbury and Chris Dean. The latter was tackled short but Tigers hooker Paul McShane’s refusal to let Dean up in a timely fashion earned him a trip to the sin-bin.
Unfortunately, the Vikings wasted the decent field-position with a knock-on from the next play.
Instead it was the 12-man Tigers who scored next when Gilmore’s cross-kick landed straight in the bread basket of Solomona who raced the length of the field for a four-pointer that brought him the Castleford tries-in-a-season record. Gale’s goal made it 16-6 at half-time.
Widnes started the second half brightly and Dean outjumped Solomona in a challenge for a Gilmore kick allowing Thompson to pick up the pieces and pull four points back with a try in the right corner.
However, far from signalling a Vikings comeback, the try only seemed to spur the home side on.
Centre Ben Crooks picked a great angle from a flat Gale pass to glide under the posts before forward Matt Cook found a big hole to crash over.
Widnes’s woes were compounded when Farrell was sent to the bin, perhaps harshly, for a flop at the tackle.
McShane sold a dummy and raced to the line for another Cas score and at 40-10 it looked like the floodgates had opened.
But rather than capitulate, the Vikings dug in and finished the game off with a trio of quick-fire tries of their own.
Left winger Patrick Ah Van was the first to cross on the end of a routine overlap and he was quickly followed by Farrell who finished his second try in determined fashion after a Gilmore crossfield bomb had caused havoc.
The final word went to Vikings’ top tryscorer Thompson who finished brilliantly as Gilmore’s grubber kick flashed across the Castleford in-goal area.
A defeat, but a game effort in the circumstances. SUPER LEAGUE: SUPER 8S FINAL TABLE