Widnes Vikings head coach John Kear was full of admiration for his side as they put in a scintillating performance to beat Halifax Panthers 42-14.
Following on from last weekend’s heartbreak at Odsal, Kear geared his team up to face a tough Panthers side who came into the encounter off the back of a victory against London Broncos.
Despite an early set back which saw Lachlan Walmsley cross for the game’s first try, the Vikings fought back emphatically, running in an unanswered 28 points at half time. Kear’s side went from strength to strength as the game progressed, scoring three more tries as they rounded out a excellent performance in front of over 3100 fans the DCBL Stadium.
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Speaking post-match, Kear believes the performance has set a precedent for the remainder of the season.
“It’s lovely when things that you’ve practiced during the week pay off,” he said. “The players executed the game plan to perfection.
“I’ve got nothing but admiration for how well the players have performed today.
“But the thing is, I’ve mentioned to them that they’ve set a standard. What we have to do now is to aspire to hit that standard on a consistent basis, and that’s the challenge in front of us.
“It was a great response [from the Bradford defeat]. It was a different type of game – it’s a vastly different field compared to Bradford’s so we had to adapt our training in order to cater for that and I’m really pleased with what the players came up with.
“I thought that they were really clever and I thought that they made some great decisions. They played some scintillating rugby league in that first half and then in the second half they were very mature and saw the game out in a very professional manner.”
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Kear is happy with how his side have handled a tough four games, but admits that his side need to be at their very best against in their next game home to Sheffield Eagles.
“I am pleased with how we’ve done. As I’ve said, I felt the Bradford defeat was down to us but they’ve certainly rectified that tonight.
“There’s a heck of a challenge next weekend – we’re going up against a Sheffield Eagles team who have won three of their four games, and they’ve played some really good rugby league, so we’re going to have a challenge there.
“At the minute, this group are embracing those challenges, they’re enjoying them and we’re playing some good rugby.”
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