Widnes Vikings 18-26 London Broncos

Widnes Vikings suffered a 26-18 defeat to London Broncos in Round 13 of the Betfred Championship.

The Broncos edged a topsy-turvy affair at the DCBL Stadium, despite tries from Sam Wilde (2) and Kieran Dixon.

The Vikings had led at one stage in the second half before two late Broncos tries put the game to bed.

Team news

John Kear was able to call upon Zach Eckersley and Lewis Hatton, with the pair returning to take the place of second-row duo Andrew Dixon and Shane Grady.

Alongside Olly Davies, Sam Wilde stepped up from the bench to the starting 13 as he celebrated career appearance number 150.

Story of the game

A series of early errors from the Vikings gave the Broncos the opportunity to post early points, but some strong defence ensured the try-line would not be breached.

Soon after, it would be the hosts who broke the deadlock, and it came courtesy of milestone man Sam Wilde. The powerful second-rower collected a pass out of dummy-half from Matty Fozard and wouldn’t be stopped close to the line.

Shortly before the midway point of the first half, the Vikings’ lead was extended to 8-0 through the boot of Tom Gilmore, after the Broncos were penalised for a second high tackle in quick succession.

The visitors responded quickly, with a shift play towards the left flank resulting in Iliess Macani squeezing over in the corner.

Less than 10 minutes until the break, a wonderful 40/20 from Fozard gave the Vikings the opportunity to extend their advantage, but a loose pass went to ground and led to the Broncos going the length of the field to score.

Joe Edge showed excellent desire to win a footrace with Macani and reel him in in the first instance, but he got an offload away to Henry Raiwalu, whose converted try made it 12-8.

It remained that way until half-time, but not before the Broncos were shown a yellow card as Rian Horsman lifted Adam Lawton over the horizontal in the tackle.

The second half started with an immediate Broncos error from kick-off, and that gave the Vikings the opportunity to level the scores.

Gilmore produced a lovely grubber kick close to the line and Wilde was the right man in the right place at the right time to touch down for his second try of the afternoon.

The Vikings piled on the pressure over the next five minutes, but it was the Broncos who scored next, arguably against the run of play.

A crossfield kick was put down by Kieran Dixon, and Paul Ulberg reacted quickest to touch down the loose ball in the in-goal area, making it 16-12 to the visitors.

Dixon soon atoned for his error with a try shortly before the hour mark. Coming in off the wing, he scooted out of dummy-half, broke the first tackle and stretched an arm out to touch down.

Gilmore’s conversion saw the Vikings take an 18-16 lead, but the Broncos hit the front once more with less than 15 minutes remaining as Macani touched down in the corner after quick hands to the left.

With the Vikings chancing their arm in search of a late, match-winning try, they were caught out inside their own 20 as Gilmore’s looping cut-out pass was intercepted by Macani, who offloaded and sent Dean Whare over in the corner for the afternoon’s final score.

Next game

Sunday 11 June – Whitehaven (A) – 3:00pm

Teams and scorers

Widnes Vikings: Jack Owens, Ryan Ince, Matt Fleming, Joe Edge, Kieran Dixon, Joe Lyons, Tom Gilmore, Owen Farnworth, Matty Fozard, Jacob Jones, Sam Wilde, Olly Davies Jordan Johnstone.

Interchanges: Zach Eckersley, Lewis Hatton, Adam Lawton, Aaron Brown (18th man: Will Tilleke).

Tries: Wilde 2, Dixon

Goals: Gilmore 3

London Broncos: Alex Walker, Paul Ulberg, Jarred Bassett, Dean Whare, Iliess Macani, Oli Leyland, Henry Raiwalu, Lewis Bienek, Sam Davis, Wellington Albert, Will Lovell, Ethan Natoli, Dean Parata.

Interchanges: Rian Horsman, Rob Butler, Jordan Williams, Emmanuel Waine (18th man: Euan Parke).

Tries: Macani 2, Raiwalu, Ulberg, Whare

Goals: Leyland 3