Rochdale 4-50 Vikings

Widnes wipe out 12-point deduction

Betfred Championship Round 8

Recap

Widnes Vikings wiped out their 12-point deduction on Sunday afternoon, as they ran out 50-4 winners over Rochdale Hornets at the Crown Oil Arena.

Loanee Luis Johnson made his debut as Kieron Purtill made three changes to the side which defeated Bradford Bulls last week, with Owen Buckley and Joe Lyons coming in for Tom Gilmore, Anthony Gelling and Owen Farnworth.

Ryan Ince climbed to the top of the try scoring charts with four tries, while Jack Owens marked his 150th career appearance with seven goals from nine attempts.

Widnes opened the scoring on five minutes, as moments after Tyler Whittaker had denied Owen Buckley a try the visitors eventually found a way over on the opposite edge through Ryan Ince.

The Vikings looked certain to extend their lead soon after, when a delayed pass at the line from Danny Craven saw Jack Owens break towards the try line, only for Shaun Ainscough to intercept his attempted pass to Buckley.

A penalty followed and the Hornets made their way into the Widnes half, with Tyler Whittaker scooping up Jordan Case’s offload and dancing his way over. Dan Abram’s missed conversion saw the scores stay level a 4-4.

The Vikings were camped on the Rochdale line after forcing a goal-line drop-out, before a penalty for a shoulder charge on Craven led to Harrison Hansen barging his way over from close range, with Owens adding the extras.

Widnes started to turn the screw as Craven landed a 40/20, and moments later Keanan Brand did well to offload and find Buckley, who came up with a smart finish in the corner. Owens was on target again with the boot, making it 16-4.

On the half hour mark, Ince was in again as clever play from Owens drew the winger in giving the Vikings wide man a simple four-pointer, which was improved from the tee.

Rochdale bombed a certain try up the other end, as they ran the ball on the last tackle and Ben Morris’ offload looked to give Lee Mitchell a walk-in, only for the back rower to knock on.

Widnes made their opponents pay five minutes from the break, as Owens chimed into the line and found a hole in the defence, sending Ince in for his hat-trick try. The successful conversion was the last scoring play of the half, as the Vikings headed into the sheds with a 28-4 lead.

10 minutes into the second half, the Widnes lead was extended as a dominant period inside the Rochdale half ended with Owens again finding a way through the Hornets defence, as he offloaded to Brand who touched down.

The Vikings were locked in an arm wrestle before Sam Wilde came up with the moment of the match, as the Vikings put the ball through hands from a scrum on their own line, and the back rower raced 90 metres to score a sensational effort.

Almost immediately after, Lloyd Roby scored his first senior try as he chased down Lyons’ inch perfect grubber to touch down in front of the travelling supporters.

With the last play of the game, Ince scooped up a Brandon Wood knock on to race the length of the field and collect his fourth try of the game to round off a brilliant performance. Owens landed the conversion, bringing the scoring to an end and securing a 50-4 victory.

Hornets

Position TRY CON PEN DG
 1000

Widnes Vikings

# Player Position TRY CON PEN DG
51. Jack Owens (C)Fullback0700
 Total 0700
TRY
1
9
CON
0
7
PEN
0
0
DG
0
0