The Vikings fell to a 22-4 defeat to Oldham on a tough afternoon at Sedgley Park.
Forced into an early reshuffle after Joe Lyons was forced off, Allan Coleman’s side struggled to find fluency in attack throughout the contest.
Oldham opened the scoring inside 20 minutes when a kick from Josh Drinkwater took an awkward bounce in the in-goal area, allowing Matthieu Pons to pounce and touch down.
The hosts continued in similar fashion after the break, doubling their advantage when Mo Agoro finished off a move from a scrum to score in the corner.
A third try followed in quick succession as a loose Oldham offload caused chaos near the Widnes line. The ball eventually fell to Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e, who capitalised on the confusion to stroll over and extend the lead to 16 points.
Widnes went close to pulling one back as Rhodri Lloyd found Mike Butt with space in front of him, but the winger was forced into touch just short of the try line.
Oldham then sealed the result with ten minutes remaining, as Ben O’Keefe intercepted a pass from Jordan Johnstone to race clear and score the decisive try.
The Vikings did manage a late consolation on the final play of the game. Nick Gregson’s looping pass found Butt, who made no mistake this time to cross in the corner and ensure Widnes avoided a shutout.
We turn our attention to a big clash with Doncaster at the DCBL Stadium in a fortnight.
TEAMS AND SCORERS
Oldham: Laulu-Togagae, Agoro, O’Keefe, Davies, Pons, Astley, Drinkwater, Farnworth, Taylor, J Chapelhow, Lannon, Ashurst, Milner
Interchanges: T Chapelhow, Baxter, Hirst, Pelissier, Johnson (18th)
Tries: Pons, Agoro, Laulu-Togagae, O’Keefe
Goals: Drinkwater x3
Widnes Vikings: Maizen, Butt, Lloyd, Edge, Williams, Lyons, Fozard, Murray, Johnstone, Bent, Roberts, Condon, Gregson
Interchanges: McWhirter, Bennion, Hartill, Wood, Irwin (18th)
Tries: Butt
Goals:
