Widnes Vikings marked Retro Round with a tightly-contested 16-12 win over Sheffield Eagles at the DCBL Stadium.
Allan Coleman’s side made a bright start and took the lead after just four minutes, the ball moved from left to right towards Jack Owens, who managed to get an offload away which allowed Ryan Ince to provide a trademark flying finish in the corner.
Just six minutes later, they were on the board again. A short pass from Jordan Johnstone out of dummy-half found Morgan McWhirter, who bowled over to stretch the Vikings’ lead.
For the opening half-hour, the hosts did well to restrict metres, but 10 minutes before the half- time hooter, the Eagles mounted a response as ex-Widnes man Ryan Millar found himself with a walk-in try after the visitors created a numerical advantage on the right edge.
Sheffield then added to their tally when Millar received the ball on the right and cut through the Widnes line to race over for another, and two conversions from the Eagles meant Widnes trailed by two points at the break.
A large portion of the second half saw both teams wrestle for momentum, without managing to put a score on the board.
But the deadlock was finally broken 12 minutes from time. Fast hands from the Vikings left Ince with space on the right edge, and he raced away downfield before handing the ball inside for Max Roberts to stroll under the posts and score what turned out to be the winning try.
Teams and scorers
Widnes Vikings: Connell, Butt, Edge, Owens, Ince, Hayes, Gilmore, Murray, Johnstone, McWhirter, Roberts, Wilde, Hall. Interchanges: Fozard, Langtree, Chapelhow, Houghton.
Tries: Ince, McWhirter, Roberts
Goals: Hayes (2)
Sheffield Eagles: Brown, Millar, Oakes, Hodson, Walkley, Ellis, Morgan, Matongo, Johnson, Broadbent, Bower, Griffin, Reilly. Interchanges: Gill, Butterworth, Bowes, Peachey.
Tries: Millar (2)
Goals: Morgan (2)
Post-match reaction
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