Title favourites prove too strong for Widnes
WIDNES....................................................... 5 MANCHESTER ......................................... 35 ANCHESTER were in peerless form at Heath Road on Saturday as they put Widnes to the sword with a comfortable victory.
They showed exactly the kind of form that has seen them sweep all before them in recent weeks, and proved that their 50 point drubbing of previous highflyers Liverpool St Helens at Moss Lane the previous week was no fluke.
And, on this kind of showing – it was their eighth win in a row – it looks like the ‘young pretenders’ of Bowdon, Broughton Park and Douglas are likely to have only the play-off spot left to fight over during the remainder of the season.
As far as the home side were concerned, they will have been bitterly disappointed with the result, although realistic enough to acknowledge they were up against a team who put in a near complete performance on the day.
Despite the wide margin of the final result, they were still in the contest after 25 minutes with the scoreline remaining blank.
However, a sudden purple patch either side of half-time would ultimately condemn them to their heaviest home defeat of 2016-17.
The weather was almost spring-like as the game got underway, and it was Manchester who were quickest out of the blocks as scrum-half Charlie Ding intercepted a pass and broke free before being hauled down.
Separated only by a long range touch finder by Kevin Leadbetter, Manchester continued to press forward, and only some excellent scrambling defence and a timely interception followed by an exciting kick and chase by Josh Kenyon saved Widnes’s bacon.
The home side still looked in confident mood despite being under the cosh from some sustained Manchester attack, but they were having to make do with living off scraps of possession and an occasional break from Dave Welsh.
Eventually, after 25 minutes, it was Manchester who got their noses in front
M● on the scoreboard when wing man Doug Day slotted over a penalty.
That seemed to act as the catalyst for better times ahead for the visitors, and shortly afterwards, they were able to turn another penalty into points, as their big pack got to work close to the line and score a try which was also converted.
Not long afterwards, the visitors were at it again, this time capitalising on some slack defence to get Dean Hogg over for another try converted by the boot of Day.
The score meant that Widnes were left with something of a mountain to climb going into the break trailing 17-0.
With the sun coming out, everyone was hoping for a brighter start by the home side at the beginning of the second half, but that notion was knocked on the head almost immediately as a long cut-out pass sent Richard McCarthy over for a third Manchester try.
And, if that wasn’t bad enough, just moments after that, the visitors were able to step down on the jugular even harder as James Brady crossed for another score, with the inevitable touchline conversion from Day sailing straight between the uprights.
With 20 minutes left, and the result assured, Widnes were finally able to open their account as Liam Lawton created the extra man to race through a big gap and score their only points of the afternoon.
The try – for a short while at least – slightly eased the gloom in the Widnes ranks, but Manchester weren’t done yet, and two late Day penalties two minutes apart finally brought the curtain down on what was ultimately a bad day at the office for Lee McDermott’s outfit.
For the home side, it was Tom O’Neill who was the pick of the bunch, and he deservedly picked up the man-of-thematch award for the home team.
Widnes head coach McDermott was philosophical after the game.
He said: “We can have no complaints. The better team won on the day and they should go on to win the league.” ● WIDNES are without a game this weekend thanks to the vagaries in the fixture list and the mild winter which has seen few games postponed. They do, however, make a return to action on March 4 with a trip across the Irish Sea to the Isle of Man where they will face Douglas at Port-E-Chee. ● WIDNES’S second XV were the only other senior side in action last weekend. They fought out an exciting 24-24 draw against close rivals Manchester.