Jones stars as Widnes earn thrilling victory
WIDNES..................................................... 29 NEW BRIGHTON ..................................... 17
WIDNES finally got their show back on the road as they secured only their second win of 2017 following a 29-17 thriller against New Brighton at Heath Road.
The game was never a classic – there were far too many mistakes for that – but if you like your rugby containing equal measures of excitement and frustration, then this one was right up there with the best of them.
There were plenty of errors, wrong choices and mistakes throughout the encounter, but that was mixed in with some great tries and some exciting rugby from two sides who had previously been separated by just a point and locked together in the league table in eighth and ninth positions.
As it was, it was the home side who finally managed to come out on top, but for much of the contest, the game was evenly matched that the final result was in doubt until the closing minutes.
The visitors were off to the very best of starts as they registered a try after just 90 seconds with Joe Silcock crossing and then converting his own effort from wide out to give New Brighton a 7-0 lead.
Widnes replied immediately, and when the visitors were caught offside and then marched back a further 10 metres by the referee, which offered Kevin Leadbetter a much easier opportunity to slot over a well-struck penalty to get them onto the scoreboard.
Wing man Liam Lawton was called into action a couple of time as he linkedup to create the overlap before his chipand-chase caused a few alarm bells to ring in the New Brighton defence.
The visitors always looked dangerous with their ability to attack from depth and only some half decent scrambling defence and a timely break from Aaron Duggan prevented Widnes from falling further behind.
For a short time at least, New Brighton tried to thwart the Wids’ attack by employing tactics similar to those of Italy in the Six Nations against England the ● previous week, but the home side were to reply to that in the best way possible – attacking from depth – before sending Mike Jones racing in under the posts for a try goaled by Kevin Leadbetter.
With a narrow advantage on the scoreboard the home side were now beginning to look something like their old selves, and their cause appeared to be helped when a New Brighton player tested the referee’s patience once too often and was dispatched to the sin-bin.
But, rather than help, the home side were somehow able to press the selfdestruct button by tossing out a loose pass which was intercepted by Ned Brooks, who raced 70 metres for a converted try underneath the posts.
Once again though, Widnes immediately hit back again as a long-range break was quickly followed up by Keiron Arndell who picked up the loose ball to score a try. And, with Kevin Leadbetter adding the extras from touch, the home side were back in the lead once again.
With the scoreboard ticking over at a frantic pace at more than a point a minute, the action was end-to-end.
New Brighton should have scored but for a timely interception by Duggan which allowed Widnes to turn defence into attack and from where, top tryscorer Antony Leadbetter was able to cross for another five-pointer – converted by his brother Kevin – to send the home side in at the break leading by 24-14.
Widnes began the second half as if they really meant business, and continued to pile on the pressure close to the New Brighton line.
But, the visitors showed they were more than up to the task with some excellent scrambling defence – and often threatening to make Widnes pay with their ability to counterattack from longrange.
Despite most of the early second half pressure coming from the home side, it was New Brighton who were able to get onto the scoreboard next as they converted a difficult long-range penalty which reduced the arrears to just seven points.
By this time, both sides had long given up on the notion of ball retention, patience and composure, with the play swinging from one end of the field to the other in what was rapidly becoming a thrilling finale.
New Brighton missed with another penalty attempt and they had several other chances before they were thwarted by a timely last ditch tackle which prevented a certain try and at least a potential share of the spoils.
In the end, though, New Brighton were having to force the pace in order to try and get something from the game, and it was this which allowed the home side to finally break free of their defensive shackles and make their way down field.
With the minutes ticking down, Josh Kenyon was able to spot a completely unmarked James Butler away from a tightly compressed New Brighton defence, and the stand-off’s pinpoint diagonal kick bounced perfectly for the wing man to collect and score the try which sealed the final result.
Mike Jones was selected as the manof-the-match, ahead of other eye-catching performances by Dave Welsh, replacement Liam Wilde, who lifted Widnes with his enthusiasm in a couple of spells on the field, and the everimproving Josh Kenyon.
Speaking after the match, Widnes head coach, Lee McDermott, said: “We are very happy to have secured a bonus point victory against a good side.
“The result will hopefully help us to kick-on in our remaining games and end the season strongly with a top-six finish.”
The first XV are without a game this weekend. ●