Wids have had their fair share of ups and downs
SUCCESSIVE home postponements against Anselmians and Southport meant that it was a premature and disappointing end to the first half of the season for Widnes RUFC.
Whilst some teams – such as Broughton Park, Liverpool St Helens and Anselmians – have been ripping it up and look likely to be the three clubs fighting it out for promotion, Widnes’s form can best be described as patchy, which has left them in eighth place in South Lancs/Cheshire One with a 50% return from their 12 games. They do, however, have games in hand over their nearest rivals.
But how has the Wids season gone so far?
Looking back, things began well enough with plenty of numbers turning up for pre-season training including one or two new faces as well as one or two other familiar ones making a welcome return. The two friendly games produced a big win at Eagle followed by a 12-12 draw against high-flying Warrington at Heath Road.
A bye in the first round of the Lancashire Plate meant that they would go into the first game of the season against Hoylake a little undercooked. However, in the end, they were much too good for the newly-promoted Wirralbased outfit, where Lee McDermott’s side won comfortably, 38-15.
They followed that up with an outstanding 25-20 victory at Southport, who had completed the double over the Wids last season.
After that, though, those victories were quickly forgotten as they were followed by a three-match losing run against two of the promotion favourites Glossop and Broughton Park, with a disappointing performance at Tyldesley sandwiched in between.
The topsy-turvy results continued in October as the red-and-blacks’ form seemingly recovered to secure a trio of narrow victories – at West Park (15-12), Aldwinians (15-10) in the Lancashire Plate, and Leigh (19-12) at Heath Road.
Unfortunately, those performances were to be followed by yet more defeats, this time at the hands of in-form Liverpool St Helens, Bowdon, and then, most disappointingly of all at Sefton, where they had managed to recover from a big deficit to take the lead only to throw it all away again in the final 15 minutes.
Fortunately, the next recovery soon arrived, and a big home win against bottom side Manchester Medics was followed by a vital ‘eight-pointer’ at New Brighton, which helped put some daylight between the two and lift Widnes back into the top half of the table.
With the half-term break then beckoning on the horizon and two home games to finish off with, the bad weather then chose to intervene to bring a disappointing end to the first half of the campaign.
The reasons for their mixed form in the first half of the season could be put down to a number of reasons.
The continuing loss of yet more experienced players ● was never going to help, and some early long-term injury worries to the likes of Chris Schofield, Paul McLindon, Jamie Clare and Josh Kenyon .
Similarly, a large number of other players were often unavailable because of work or other commitments, all of which contributed to the fact that the coaching staff rarely had a full and consistent squad to choose from, which would ultimately go on to affect performances on the field.
But as players move on then others are given an opportunity. And the likes of Andy Owens, Jamie Patient and Matty Walker are amongst some of the exciting new breed who have stepped up to the mark to stake their claim.
And, whilst performances and results on the field may occasionally have disappointed the supporters, there is also a much bigger and wider picture that has to be taken into consideration.
The club still turn out three senior teams and a Colts team every week. They also have a strong and well established minis and junior section who continue with the production line of preparing players for the future, and they now also have a developing and thriving ladies’ section.
In addition, the club is built around strong financial principles, and the facilities that they are able to offer at Heath Road are the envy of many other rugby clubs in the wider North West region.
Not only that, their hard work and due diligence over many years has recently been recognised with the award of a £10,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund which will be used to make a 90-minute film documentary about the history and development of Widnes RUFC. ● After an enforced absence of over a month, Lee McDermott’s squad finally make a welcome return to action – weather permitting p of course – with a l long trip to the Peak Dist trict where they will take o on Glossop at Hargate Hill L Lane this Saturday.
Glossop have shown some decent form so far this season and are c currently fifth in the table. They also have three games in hand over some o of their closest rivals.
The game kicks-off at 2 2.15pm.
LF