Wids do enough to dispatch Wigan
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WIDNES survived a second half onslaught before going on to complete the double over a Wigan side who may be down, but not quite yet out, on what would normally have been the final round of fixtures in South Lancs/Cheshire One.
On the face of it, Wigan’s defeat should have been enough to send them down. But there could their yet be a final twist to this tale after Manchester Medics were docked five points for their failure to fulfil their fixture against Widnes a fortnight earlier.
As a result, both Wigan and the Medics are now locked together on 22 points in the table. So everything may now depend on a new date being found by the league committee to replay that postponed fixture.
So, in true ‘ Agatha Christie’ style, there may yet be a lifeline for Wigan’s survival hopes with the Medics going down in their place should they fail to fulfil any future obligations put on them by the administrators.
Either way, all will be revealed in the coming days, meaning it could be a little while longer before players and coaches can finally put their boots and kit away for a few weeks – at least before it all starts again at preseason in June.
As far as the game in question was concerned, the warm and pleasant conditions meant there was a big, derby day crowd to provide the ideal backdrop to the afternoon’s entertainment.
The visitors looked keen and hungry in the opening exchanges and their extra pace and speed of execution through the likes of Jamie Patient and Andy Owens saw them make some early inroads into the heart of the Wigan defence.
The ‘red and blacks’ though did lack patience and composure inside the Wigan 22 – a trait that was to haunt them throughout the game - as they looked for that first early score.
Callum Isbell came closest when he was held up over the line, but it wasn’t long before the ball was spread out wide for top try scorer Antony Leadbetter to crash over in the corner for a five pointer.
A Wigan error from the restart allowed Widnes to maintain the upper hand, but their insistence in continuing to force the final pass when the easy option was always available, prevented them from adding to their tally.
After 15 minutes, Wigan earned themselves a penalty which allowed them to set up camp in the Wids half which led to wingman Danny Winrow being tackled into touch at the corner flag.
Despite the perfect conditions, the middle part of the first half was all a bit scrappy, littered with mistakes and a number of basic and unforced errors.
Wigan, though, should have scored after 24 minutes after they stretched the Wids defence out wide, but some poor execution let them down close to the
Dline and the visitors were able to scramble their way out of trouble.
After absorbing that particular passage of play, Widnes were suddenly able to turn defence into attack which ended with an exciting kick and chase ahead, before fullback Andy Owens then hit the post with a penalty attempt.
That relief was short lived for the host team, and when Widnes attacked strongly, a clever pass from Liam Lawton sent captain Kevin Leadbetter powering his way over for a try to double the Wids advantage on the scoreboard.
Although Widnes could, and should have scored more points, it was the signal for Wigan to start to dominate much of the remainder of the contest as they attempted to get back into the contest and onto the scoreboard before the half-time break.
From Widnes’ point of view, patience and composure was going to be the main theme from the coaches at half-time, but it looked as if that particular die had already been cast as they continued to spend most of the remainder of the game choosing the difficult option and inviting Wigan back into the contest close to their own line. As it was, Widnes did have an e early chance to extend th their lead as fullback Owens broke clear, but his pass failed to fi find its intended targ get of Jamie Patient. T This wasn’t helped when soon afterwards, a visiting player was invited to w warm his heels in the si sin-bin for 10 minutes fo following a deliberate
LFknock down.
Fortunately at that point, the visitors seemed to have enough in hand to deal with the numerical disadvantage and their scrambling defence was in top working order.
Wigan continued to knock on the door looking for a try that would re-invigorate their challenge, but then they too were then reduced to 14 players after conceding successive penalties – the second of which allowed Kevin Leadbetter to strike over a long range kick to increase the lead to 13-0 and give his side some breathing space on the scoreboard.
There was still some time for the referee to issue a lengthy warning to both captains as the game threatened to boil over. But, in the end, Widnes managed to see out the remaining minutes without any further mishap to claim the four league points on offer and the possibility of a halfway finish in what has been a really competitive division this season. ● Following on from the success of the second team in collecting the Division Three South league title, it was the turn of the thirds to take centre stage after they were confirmed as champions of Division Five West after a battle with both Wirral and Sefton.
It has been a remarkable achievement from a side that were all but down and out after being relegated from Division Four just 12 months ago.
Their achievement in winning the title was partly overshadowed by the fact that their opponents conceded the fixture, meaning that they were denied the opportunity to win the title in style with a victory celebration in front of their own supporters.