Super triumph
Sunday, September 28, 1980 THE second half dismissal of back-row forward Martin Smith nearly cost Widnes two points against Halifax at The Shay as they chased Hull Kingston Rovers at the top of the league.
In the end they had to rely on a last minute try from Tony Myler to claim the win that had seemed theirs for the taking at half-time.
The lead had come through opening period tries from John and Tony Myler, with Mick Burke adding a conversion.
However, with their numerical advantage, the home side stormed back to take a two point lead into the last minute. But urged on by the travelling support and showing great spirit, Widnes claimed the vital win. ● WIDNES VIKINGS: On This Day is available now at £9.99 from the Vikings Superstore. ● Corey Thompson on the ball for Widnes in the clash with Catalans. ● CATALANS DRAGONS .............. 10 WIDNES VIKINGS ...................... 12
WIDNES secured their place in Super League for 2018 with a nervejangling 12-10 win over Catalans Dragons in Perpignan last Saturday evening.
Vikings’ fans had to endure an almost unbearable finale to the game at Stade Gilbert Brutus as the home side tried to snatch a late victory.
But when the final hooter sounded, there was an outpouring of joy from Widnes supporters inside the ground and no doubt many more watching on television or listening on the radio.
The game was hardly a classic in terms of pure rugby skills, as Vikings coach Denis Betts acknowledged afterwards, but it made up for it in drama as Widnes defended for their lives.
Betts said: “I’m relieved. We made it hard work for ourselves. ●
“It was edgy. It was what these games are. It was a great day; the pitch was great, there was no wind, it was dry – but the rugby was rubbish.
“If that’s what we want to create, we’ve done a really good job at creating tension, atmosphere and jeopardy.
“But what we haven’t done is created a decent game.
“All the way through we’ve had great defensive efforts.
“We’ve been a really solid team in The Qualifiers. I thought we had a win in us today.
“The lads were confident all week. We trained really well and we came here and worked really hard.
“If a couple of calls had gone our way it might have ended up a bigger score.”
Betts brought hooker Aaron Heremaia back into his team to cover for the injured Lloyd White with Corey Thompson also returning on the wing after missing the previous week’s win over London Broncos.
The cagey nature of the opening stages should have surprised nobody given what was at stake and set completion was very much the order of the day.
The Vikings were given the first opportunity when Catalans fullback Lewis Tierney failed to claim a high bomb but Jack Buchanan’s knock-on ended the advance.
At the other end, ex-Viking Richie Myler was stopped just short of the tryline but the Dragons were awarded a penalty for interference at the play-the-ball and Luke Walsh obliged with a simple penalty goal.
Widnes went close when Chris Houston scrambled after a Tom Gilmore cross-kick but Thompson was adjudged to have knocked the ball forward before Houston pounced.
The Vikings got themselves on level terms on 23 minutes when home winger Vincent Duport obstructed Thompson as he chased a kick and Gilmore slotted an angled penalty to make it allsquare at 2-2.
Widnes were enjoying a good spell and more pressure resulted in a further Gilmore penalty for interference at the play-the-ball.
It seemed the Vikings were getting on top but that came to an abrupt end when Houston was sin-binned for a high tackle eight minutes before half-time.
Roared on by the home crowd, the Dragons piled forward but their only reward was a Walsh penalty following a ball steal which left the scores deadlocked at 4-4 at the interval.
Both teams continued with their safety-first tactics after the break and it took until the 54th minute for the first try of the game to come.
Hep Cahill’s pass hit the floor and took a fortunate ricochet off Danny Craven’s knee into the arms of Charly Runciman who put Thompson, playing his last game for Widnes, in at the corner with opposite number Duport