Big clashes lie ahead as sides battle for safety
● WHILE Widnes fans were entitled to a mini-celebration having seen their side win for the first time in 18 games last weekend, they will have been keeping a close eye on results elsewhere in the Betfred Super League Qualifiers.
On Friday night, Leeds Rhinos edged out Salford Red Devils 18-16 at Emerald Headingley Stadium.
The Rhinos took the spoils courtesy of a controversial late penalty goal slotted over by Liam Sutcliffe and it moved Kevin Sinfield’s men a step closer to safety.
It was Salford’s first defeat in The Qualifiers but they still sit at the top of the table with a superior scoring difference to both Leeds and Hull Kingston Rovers.
The Robins were also involved in a tough game with the final scoreline, a 30-18 victory over London Broncos, perhaps flattering the winners.
The defeat dealt a blow to the Broncos’ Super League hopes though they will still feel the Million Pound Game is within their grasp.
Meanwhile, Toronto Wolfpack were made to fight all the way by underdogs Toulouse Olympique at Lamport Stadium.
Ex-Widnes man Gareth O’Brien snatched a late victory for the Canadian team with a drop-goal which gave them a 13-12 win.
The Vikings visit Toronto on Saturday in a must-win game whilst elsewhere Salford, Hull Kingston Rovers and Leeds can go close to Super League safety if they win at London, Toulouse and Halifax respectively. Betfred Super League Qualifiers
Round 6 Fixtures: ● Saturday 3pm: London Broncos v Salford Red Devils. ● Saturday 5pm: Toulouse Olympique v Hull Kingston Rovers. ● Saturday 5.30pm: Toronto Wolfpack v Widnes Vikings. ● Sunday 3pm: Halifax v Leeds Rhinos.
Thursday, September 20, 2007 A LACKLUSTRE performance saw Widnes crash at Castleford in the playoffs as the hosts claimed their Grand Final place with a 26-8 win, leaving the Vikings to face Halifax in a Final eliminator.
An even first half saw the teams level at 4-4 after two Mick Nanyn penalties had given Widnes a 4-0 lead after 26 minutes, with Danny Brough countering with a brace of his own.
Early in the second half Nanyn barged over in the corner to regain the four point advantage, but Brough then took control as the Tigers scored four tries to secure the win. ● WIDNES VIKINGS: On This Day is available now at £9.99 from the Vikings Superstore. ● ● WIDNES VIKINGS ...................... 26 HALIFAX RLFC........................... 12
IT was more a case of relief than joy as Widnes finally ended their 17-game losing run with a 26-12 win over Halifax RLFC at the Select Security Stadium last Saturday afternoon.
Widnes fans had to look back to the 90-0 drubbing of minnows Coventry Bears in the Challenge Cup on April 21 for their team’s last victory and Saturday was the last chance for a home win in 2018.
For a moment, the fact the result also kept alive the Vikings’ slim hopes of retaining their Super League place for the 2019 campaign seem of secondary consideration.
Two tries apiece from Krisnan Inu and Patrick Ah Van helped do the trick for Francis Cummins’s men and the Vikings’ head coach was delighted to see his team finally get the monkey off their back.
He said: “The longer it goes on the more difficult it gets and you get a team that forgets how to win.
“Generally I thought we had control of the game but at times we looked like a team that hasn’t won for a while. We tried to knock them out with single plays and we just needed to make a few more right decisions to win a bit more comfortably.
“We were never going to lose that game; I could tell that after the first 15 minutes.
“At times we tried to go around them when we should have gone through them and we’ll review the game and try to take more of the right options next time.
“We got some confidence from our previous game against Leeds and having finally got a win that should give us some more and help us go over and beat Toronto next Saturday.”
Cummins chose to go with the same squad that lost to Leeds six days earlier but promoted prop Charlie Gubb to the starting XIII with Jay Chapelhow dropping to the bench.
And it was Gubb who led the way early on with his strong drives pushing back the Halifax defence.
The Yorkshire outfit went close when a Shane Grady try was chalked off for offside from a Scott Murrell kick, but the Vikings hit the front on nine minutes when quick hands to the right saw Weller Hauraki cross with youngster Joe Lyons delivering the killer pass. Inu added the extras to make it 6-0.
When Inu bulldozed over on the right just five minutes later, it looked like Widnes were taking a stranglehold on the match.
However, some of the team’s