Report: Widnes Vikings 31-14 Bradford Bulls

Widnes Vikings returned to winning ways with an impressive 31-14 victory at home to Bradford Bulls in Round 18 of the Betfred Championship.

The Bulls came into the contest in excellent form but couldn’t find any response to a Vikings display filled with grit and determination.

First half tries from Matty Fozard and Kieran Dixon saw the home side lead 14-12 at the break, before a second for Dixon and further tries from Adam Lawton and Ollie Brookes in the second 40 rounded off a comprehensive victory at the DCBL Stadium.

Team news

Neil Belshaw welcomed back Matt Fleming to the starting 13 following a recent foot injury which kept him sidelined for the last four matches.

Owen Farnworth also came back into the fold and was named on the bench alongside recent loan signing Tom Forber.

Ryan Millar, Jordan Johnstone and Jacob Jones all dropped out following last weekend’s 40-28 defeat in Toulouse.

Story of the game

Despite only winning one of their last eight matches, the Vikings started full of confidence and posted first points inside the opening five minutes.

A tricky Joe Lyons grubber kick caused havoc down the short side as Connor Wynne fumbled it backwards initially. Ben Blackmore tried to hack the ball away with his foot on the follow-up, but he got it totally wrong and only succeeded in finding the hands of Matty Fozard, who had the easiest of finishes out wide.

The Bulls’ response was swift, and they levelled the scores with eight minutes on the clock after Lee Gaskell sent Chester Butler through a gap in the defensive line, with the second-rower diving over in the corner.

The visitors then hit the front before the midway point of the first half. Dec Patton’s grubber towards the in-goal was a dangerous one, and Kieran Gill got there first to score.

The topsy-turvy nature of the half continued when Kieran Dixon collected a superb, looping pass out of dummy-half from Fozard before evading Blackmore to finish out wide.

That made it 12-12, and a penalty for the Vikings on the stroke of half-time – also leading to Gaskell being sent to the sin-bin – saw Joe Edge kick two more points to give the hosts a slender lead at the break.

Widnes thought they’d made a dream start to the second 40 as Ant Walker looked to have charged his way over the line, but the referee and linesman ruled that he was held over the line and the chance came to nothing.

Patton soon kicked a penalty goal to level the scores at 14-14, but an error straight from kick-off gave the Vikings field position, and they made it count on the very next play as Lyons, Edge and Max Roberts combined to send Dixon over for his second try of the night in the corner.

Another Edge penalty stretched the lead to 20-14 as the game entered the final quarter, and soon after, Tom Gilmore sank a drop-goal to extend the Vikings’ advantage to more than one converted try.

Things got even better when Adam Lawton powered over under the posts, and there was still time for further gloss to be added to the scoreline as a superb pass from Gilmore sent Ollie Brookes over in the corner to make it 31-14.

Edge’s conversion went wide, and despite a frantic final few seconds, there would be no further points scored as the Vikings wrapped up a fantastic win.

Next game

Sunday 16 July – Keighley Cougars (A) – 3:00pm kick-off

Teams and scorers

Widnes Vikings: Joe Edge, Kieran Dixon, Max Roberts, Matt Fleming, Ollie Brookes, Joe Lyons, Tom Gilmore, Callum Field, Matty Fozard, Adam Lawton, Sam Wilde, Shane Grady, Olly Davies.

Interchanges: Owen Farnworth, Tom Forber, Ant Walker, Will Tilleke (18th man: Brad Holroyd).

Tries: Fozard, Dixon 2, Lawton, Brookes

Goals: Gilmore, Edge 4

Drop-goals: Gilmore

Bradford Bulls: Connor Wynne, Ben Blackmore, Joe Arundel, Kieran Gill, Jorge Taufua, Lee Gaskell, Dec Patton, Masi Matongo, Jordan Lilley, Michael Lawrence, Chester Butler, AJ Wallace, Brad Foster.

Interchanges: Jason Baitieri, Ebon Scurr, Keven Appo, James Segeyaro (18th man: Billy Jowitt).

Tries: Butler, Gill

Goals: Patton 3