A season to be very cheerful for Widnes
FOLLOWING the ‘was it on, was it off’ league game against Manchester Medics, the curtain finally came down for Widnes RUFC and their 2016-17 South Lancs Cheshire One campaign. Their victory on the final day meant that they ended the season with an overall playing record of 13 wins from 26 matches to finish in seventh place.
For the record, Manchester were crowned as champions, whilst Douglas edged out De La Salle 15-14 in the playoff game last weekend.
Both teams will now take their place in North One West next season.
As far as Widnes were concerned, at first glance, a halfway finish hardly appears to be anything to write home about.
However, following on from the trials and tribulations of the previous 18 months – where the club were eventually relegated – it does represent a new start and some new-found stability and enthusiasm for the Heath Road outfit.
Lee McDermott’s outfit were also unfortunate enough to drop into a league which turned out to be ultra-competitive in almost every sense.
Many of the teams were packed with both size and more importantly experience, and that proved to be the case as Manchester and Douglas set the early pace closely followed by Broughton Park, Glossop, and Bowdon.
There was little to choose between the middle group which included Widnes along with the likes of Sefton, New Brighton, Liverpool St Helens and Southport, all of whom were capable of – and often did – take points from each other throughout the season.
The bottom four clubs never really got going, and they soon found themselves cut adrift from quite early on in the season. But, whilst Anselmians and the Medics did just enough to escape, there would be no respite for Wigan and Oswestry who eventually dropped through the trap door.
In such a competitive environment, it was obvious there would be some disappointments. But, there were also some ● real highlights. In particular, the comeback victories over previously unbeaten leaders Douglas and Bowdon will stay long in the memory.
And, whilst injuries, experience and unavailability were also major factors throughout the campaign, the old adage of ‘as one door closes, another one opens’ was definitely the case with any number of young players coming through the ranks to establish themselves in the squad.
The list, amongst others included Jacob Coole-Healey, Tom O’Neill, James Butler, Dave Murphy, Aaron Duggan, Matt Blakey, Callum Isbell, Liam Lawton, Jamie Patient, Andy Owens, Ben Gardiner, Sam Bryan, Jack Gilhooley and Ben Mercer. None of these players let either themselves, or the coaching staff down with their performances on the field.
In addition, there was also the emergence of top tryscorer Antony Leadbetter, who crossed the whitewash 24 times and was rightly chosen as the First-Team Player Of The Year following an outstanding campaign.
The relative success of the first team squad was underpinned by the performances of their second and third XVs who both qualified for the semi-finals of their cup competitions before going on to win their respective league titles and promotion – no mean achievement for two sides who previously looked in free- fall following relegation and a distinct lack of players.
The Colts also had a great season in the league as well as qualifying for the Lancashire Cup Final where they lost out to Manchester in the closing moments of the game.
None of this, of course, would have been possible without the support of the real grassroots and heroes of the club – the Minis and Juniors along with their coaches and parents.
They underpin everything the club does by continuing with the production line of the next generation of senior players – something that other clubs are maybe unwilling or unable to do in these days of instant success.