TOO LITTLE,TOO LATE (From Warrington Guardian)

TOO LITTLE,TOO LATE

A LAST gasp conversion miss saw Widnes surrender their unbeaten home record on Sunday when Batley withstood a second-half comeback to triumph 17-16.

Widnes had recovered from a half-time deficit of 14 points to the extent that a Paul Mansson try two minutes from time gave Mark Hewitt a conversion to win the game.

But his kick from a tight angle went wide and Batley were left to celebrate their fifth victory of the season.

Manager Colin Whitfield was disappointed in defeat: "It boils down to mentality, it boils down to having that desire to do it and we just didn't.

"There's that little bit of cohesion that is missing at the moment. I'm confident that the players can turn this around but everyone has got to be pulling in the same direction."

Although Widnes struck first, when Mark Hewitt landed a 40-yard penalty in the 11th minute, the home team were over-run by their more committed opponents.

Tries for Simpson, Barnett and Lingard, with conversions by Price left the away side 16-2 ahead at the break.

Widnes decided to play a bit of rugby after the break, and began their climb back towards respectability when Damien Munro was given a try in the 54th minute, when he crossed the line.

There was suspicion of both a failure to touch down and a knock-on in the preceding play, but the referee gave it after consulting with his linesman.

The fightback continued through Jim Cassidy, whose try was converted by Hewitt.

Although Barnett dropped a goal to make it 17-12 with just six minutes left, Mansson gave his team the chance to anatch a victory with his late try.

But it was not to be, and the Vikings failed to regain their place in the top-five.

Next up is Hull KR away, with Savelio doubtful following a knee operation. Widnes are at home the following Sunday against Hunslet.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.