Vikings lose final pre-season friendly (From Warrington Guardian)

Vikings lose final pre-season friendly

WIDNES went down 36-14 in their final pre-season trial game against St Helens at Knowsley Road last Thursday writes Mark Farmer.

The Vikings looked to be well in the match until a three try scoring burst early in the second half put the home side in the driving seat.

Up to that point Widnes main problem was turning possession and pressure into points.

They dominated much of the first half but only came up with one try to show for it.

Dean Lawford's superb pass sent Adam Hughes surging clear from his own 20-metre area.

The rangy centre made 60 metres before finding wing partner Chris Giles who rounded the fullback to finish impressively.

It brought the sore back to 6-4 after Saints had opened the scoring with a converted try from Great Britain star Paul Sculthorpe.

Sean Long scrambled over for a self-converted try just before the interval to give Saints a slightly flattering 12-4 half-time lead.

The home side's golden spell early in the second period saw Jason Hooper, Lee Gilmour and Dom Feaunati cross for tries to effectively put the game out of reach at 26-4. Deon Bird backed up a John Robinson burst to register a six-pointer for the Vikings before Long crossed for his second touchdown.

Young winger Nicky Royle, on as a substitute, produced an impressive finish to pull four points back for Widnes but St Helens finished in the ascendancy as Keiron Cunningham barged over from close range.

Vikings boss Neil Kelly found both positives and negatives in the performance as his side prepare for their opening Super League clash at Salford this Sunday.

He said: "That was the sort of game we needed.

"We had a lot of possession in the first half and completed 75 per cent of our sets but we didn't get the points to show for it.

"I'm happy with the way we established field position but we showed a lack of poise and shape when we were near their line.

"I thought collectively as a team we defended well at times but some of our individual defence has got to improve.

"Too often we were second best in the collision area."

Widnes: Rowlands, Robinson, Bird (1t), Hughes, Giles (1t), J O'Neill, Lawford, Relf, Millard, J F O'Neill, Wozniak, Finnigan, Frame. Subs: Atcheson, McCurrie, Hobson, Mills, Hay, Bibey, Myler, Royle (1t).