Widnes Vikings 80-4 Wests Warriors

Widnes Vikings eased into the fourth round of the Betfred Challenge Cup with a dominant 80-4 victory over Wests Warriors.

The Vikings ran in a total of 15 tries against the defending Southern Conference League champions at the DCBL Stadium.

Six different players scored twice – Ollie Brookes being one of those on his return from a hamstring injury.

Jordan Johnstone also made his comeback from injury as the Vikings beat spirited amateur opposition to advance to the next round of the cup.

Team news

The Vikings made a number of changes following last weekend’s defeat to Sheffield Eagles in Round 5 of the Betfred Championship.

John Kear was able to welcome back Ollie Brookes and Jordan Johnstone from injury, while Brad Holroyd, Will Tilleke and Aaron Brown also returned to the side.

Ryan Millar was absent from the squad after undergoing surgery earlier in the week.

A number of other regular first team players, including Shane Grady, Liam Bent and Lewis Hatton, were left out of the matchday squad, while Kyle Amor was named as 18th man.

Story of the game

After failing to capitalise on some good early field position, it took the Vikings 10 minutes to score their first try of the afternoon.

Brad Holroyd was found down the left touchline after an excellent cut-out pass, and he played the ball inside to his centre Joe Edge who dived over.

Holroyd went from provider to scorer four minutes later as Danny Craven’s looping ball wide sent him over for a walk-in near the corner, and Ollie Brookes was soon over before the midway point of the first half to make it 16-0.

Callum Field was next to crash over from close range, before Aaron Brown celebrated his return to the side with one of his own as he latched onto a well-weighted grubber kick through the defensive line.

The points kept coming before the break, with Olly Davies, Matt Fleming and Ryan Ince helping make it 42-0 at the break.

It had been a spirited display from Wests Warriors, and they got the try their efforts deserved when Blake Nahu posted the first points of the second half after finishing off a slick scrum play down their left edge.

It would only be a slight reprieve, though, and the Vikings continued to put in a professional display to ensure they finished the game averaging one point per minute.

On his 150th career appearance, Ant Walker powered over under the posts to make it 48-4 in his milestone match.

Brookes soon had his second of the day with a diving finish in the right corner, and Brown also grabbed a double after racing over from 30m out, having been on-hand to support Matty Fozard’s break down the middle.

A strong finish in the corner from Ince meant he was next to bag a brace, with Holroyd the beneficiary of a looping pass from Adam Lawton to add his second of the afternoon on 64 minutes.

Weight of numbers then saw Fleming use his outside men as a decoy and dummy over for his second with five minutes to go.

And it was Edge who rounded off the scoring with a converted try in the closing stages, taking his personal tally for the afternoon to 28 points.

Next game

Saturday 18 March – Toulouse Olympique (H) – 3pm

Teams and scorers

Widnes Vikings: Matt Fleming, Ollie Brookes, Ryan Ince, Joe Edge, Brad Holroyd, Danny Craven, Joe Lyons, Callum Field, Jordan Johnstone, Will Tilleke, Olly Davies, Adam Lawton, Aaron Brown.

Interchanges: Ant Walker, Jack Owens, Matty Fozard, Sam Wilde (18th man: Kyle Amor).

Tries: Edge 2, Holroyd 2, Brookes 2, Field, Brown 2, Davies, Fleming 2, Ince 2, Walker

Goals: Edge 10

Wests Warriors: Blake Nahu, Mitchell Ingham, Mitchell Large, James Robertson, Daniel Munt, Pete Henshall, Jack Payne, Louis Robinson, Jake Ritchie, Dom Stock, Samuel Griffiths, Mitchell Cairns-Nelson, Chris Watkins.

Interchanges: Ryan Couch, Ben Yerby, Kyle Tucker, Aaron Lewis (18th man: Adam Dack).

Tries: Nahu

Goals: