Widnes beaten by weather yet again
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MORE heavy rain put paid to any chance of Widnes RUFC playing their rearranged South Lancashire/ Cheshire One Division fixture against Anselmians at Heath Road last Saturday.
Both teams even tried to switch the fixture to the Saints’ home ground at Malone Field, but again conditions simply were not fit enough for the game to go ahead.
It was the umpteenth postponement of what is becoming an increasingly fragmented season, and leaves all of the club and the league, in danger of running out of blank dates in order to rearrange the outstanding fixtures.
At the last check, Widnes had played three games less than the league leaders – although they are not the worst affected team by any means.
That title currently belongs to Glossop who have four games to catch up on. Surprisingly, though, the Hargate Hill outfit were able to play their home fixture with West Park last weekend, when it appeared to be a certainty to be off given the current conditions and its more exposed geographical location.
With the poor weather showing little or no sign of relenting and the pitches needing time to recover, there are going to be some real headaches for the league committee to resolve over the coming weeks.
If all of that wasn’t bad enough, Widnes – having already qualified for the semi-final of the Lancashire Plate – still do not know who they will playing as Aspull and De La Salle have yet to sort out a date for their quarter-final tie .
Weather permitting, though, Widnes will be hoping that this weekend’s attractive home fixture with Liverpool St Helens will go ahead.
LSH have been in peerless form this season and currently sit at the top of the pile where they are currently going head-to- head with Broughton Park and Anselmians, who can both over- take them should they win their games in hand.
It is a game Lee McDermott’s squad have been looking forward to since the first clash between the pair back in October, when the visitors were comfortably put to the sword by 34-5 at Moss Lane.
But, that was then, and this is now, and the reality is that whilst LSH have continued as the form team of the competition, Widnes are a much different proposition now having recovered from a tough start, to recover and are now currently on a run of five wins from their last six matches.
Memories amongst the Wids’ supporters will also go back to last January, when LSH were again the front-runners and favourites to win, only to meet a Red-and-Blacks team on top form and who turned the form book on its head with a 44-17 victory. That defeat also signalled a dramatic drop-off in form for the former league leaders who eventually finished sixth.
Good news for the home side is the expected return to action for last season’s top try scorer Antony Leadbetter, who is back in contention after missing the last three months through injury.
Leadbetter, who was Widnes’s Player of the Year in 2017, scored 25 tries last season, and his pace, strength and finishing prowess, will be a welcome addition to McDermott’s squad as the business end of the season approaches. The game kicks-off at 2.15pm. ● PRIOR to the game, there will be a reunion of ex-Fairfield pupils who have a Wids and a rugby union connection.
Amongst the confirmed attendees will be respected exUnion and League International and BBC TV and radio commentator, Ray French, who is both president of the LSH club, and a former PE teacher at the school.
For anyone interested in coming along either before, during or after the first-team game, or just requires more information, then contact the organiser George Street on 07851-362632.