Widnes Vikings head coach John Kear has given an honest reflection of Sunday’s 32-12 defeat to Dewsbury Rams in the fourth round of the Betfred Challenge Cup.
Against the side currently top of Betfred League 1, the Vikings were unable to come up with the answers on a difficult afternoon at FLAIR Stadium.
Tries in either half from Matty Fozard and Adam Lawton gave Kear’s side a foothold in the contest, but the Rams scored 20 unanswered points to advance to the next round.
“It’s a mystery at the minute,” Kear said post-match.
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“I thought we lacked resilience, I thought our on-line defence was very, very soft. I thought with the ball, we looked a little clueless on their line. It’s just been a really poor performance.
“I don’t think that we respected the opposition as we should have done. They’re used to playing on a field like this, they know how to play a field like this, and they’ve given us a scolding, to tell you the truth.
“They were quicker than it was in the ruck area, and they showed us how to play on the opposition line with some lovely little ruck plays that came up trumps for them.
“We’ve just spoken in there that nobody’s place is assured. We’ve got to re-energise because the last two performances have been flat.
“Other teams have outworked us. I thought Newcastle outworked us, and certainly today Dewsbury outworked us. Our effort areas have been shocking.”
One positive note for the Vikings was the sight of Owen Farnworth, who was able to get his first minutes of 2023 after a lengthy lay-off due to injury and illness.
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Kear knows there is plenty more to come from the front-rower as he continues to increase his match sharpness.
“It was [a positive], but he looked very rusty,” the Vikings head coach added.
“He made a yardage error in the first half and they scored in the next set, and he came up with a missed tackle or two.
“He’s got back on the field, but he hasn’t got back on the field with the quality that we require. Still, it’s a positive step forward.”
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