The Vikings booked their place in the Quarter-Finals of the 1895 Cup with a narrow 28-26 victory over Hunslet this afternoon.
Allan Coleman’s side had to come from behind three times to claim the victory on a tough afternoon at the South Leeds Stadium.
Hunslet came out of the blocks stronger as they raced into a 10-0 lead thanks to tries from Mackenzie Turner and Lachlan Hanneghan.
The Vikings hit back through Matty Fozard as he picked up from the back of a scrum to dummy through and score to the right of the posts.
A quickfire second would follow as Matt Fleming crossed for his third try in as many games following some nice work from Noah Hodkinson to find a gap in the Hunslet defence.
With momentum well on their side, the Vikings searched for a third try but only found a sucker punch right before halftime as Noah Booth intercepted Declan Patton’s long pass to race 90 metres and re-establish a four-point lead for the hosts.
Buoyed by the late try, Hunslet grabbed another right on the stroke of Half Time as Hanneghan dummied through for a second to give the hosts a 20-12 lead at the interval.
The Vikings responded early in the second half as Rhys Williams took Tom Gilmore’s looping pass to cross in the corner and cut the deficit to two points.
Max Roberts then stepped up to deliver the moment of the match as he found a gap on the inside before turning on the afterburners to beat fullback Billy Jowitt and race 40 metres to give the Vikings the lead.
A sloppy forward pass gave the hosts an immediate chance to hit back and they did just that as Hanneghan crossed for his hat-trick.
The Vikings rallied once more and it was Max Roberts again who came up with the score as he took Patton’s cut-out pass to burst through the gap for the try.
The hosts threw everything they had at the Vikings in the final 10 minutes but the defence held firm to secure a 28-26 victory and a place in the next round.
Attention turns back to League action next Sunday as we travel to the Fox’s Biscuits Stadium to take on Batley Bulldogs in Round Three of the Betfred Championship. Tickets available HERE.
TEAMS AND SCORERS
Hunslet: Jowitt, Scurr, Eden, Booth, Turner, Hanneghan, Beharrell, Larroyer, Whitmore, Fishwick, Levy, Welham, Campbell
Interchanges: Hallas, Syme, O’Hanlon, Deakin, Wood (18th)
Tries: Hanneghan x3, Turner, Booth
Goals: Beharrell x3
Widnes Vikings: Hodkinson, Butt, Roberts, Fleming, Williams, Patton, Gilmore, Murray, Fozard, Reilly, Lloyd, Langtree, Lannon
Interchanges: Lyons, Gregson, Bennion, Wood, Bent (18th)
Tries: Roberts x2, Fozard, Fleming, Williams
Goals: Gilmore x4
