Widnes Vikings lost in Golden Point extra time, having drawn 16-16 in normal time, against Oldham Roughyeds in the Betfred Championship sudden death Playoff at the DCBL Stadium.
The game initially began as a cagey affair until the 15-minute mark when Oldham kicked a 40-20. The Roughyeds made their advanced position up the pitch count when Jake Bibby caught the ball on the left flank and ran over the line.
The first half as a whole had proved to be a low scoring affair with the only other action coming five minutes before the break. An Oldham penalty allowed Morgan Smith to successfully add two more points to the visitors’ tally.
In contrast to the opening 40, the away side wasted no time scoring after the interval when Ben Davies forced his way through just two minutes in.
Five minutes later, Smith was on hand again to convert a penalty kick, extending Oldham’s lead.
With 53 minutes on the clock, the Vikings got themselves on the scoresheet.
After playing it across the line, the ball ended up in the hands of Mike Butt. With a crowd of Roughyeds players ahead of him, the winger bravely dived in at the corner to close the score gap.
Allan Coleman’s side were really finding their stride, evidenced a few minutes later when Nathan Connell impressively broke the line to run through unopposed. The full-backs’ hard work paid off as he put the ball down under the sticks.
Just over an hour in, Widnes had turned the game on its head. Following a scrum, the ball was worked down to Ryan Ince who deceived his man in the corner to give the Vikings the advantage.
With less than five minutes remaining, Oldham opted to kick a penalty, which Smith scored to level proceedings, sending the tie to Golden Point.
Straight from kick-off, the visitors played the ball into Owen Farnworth who ran under the sticks to send the Roughyeds into the next round.
Teams and scorers
Widnes Vikings: Connell, Butt, Taylor, Owens, Ince, Richardson, Gilmore, Murray, Fozard, Chapelhow, Wilde, Langtree, Gregson. Interchanges: Roberts, Lawton, Banditt, Mcwhirter.
Tries: Butt, Connell, Ince
Goals: Richardson (2)
Oldham: Walker, Nisbet, Davies, O’Keefe, Bibby, Smith, Drinkwater, Day, Wildie, Farnworth, Ashurst, Liu, Milner. Interchanges: Geyer, Chapelhow, Lannon, Mason.
Tries: Bibby, Davies, Farnworth
Goals: Smith (4)
