VIKINGS SEASON REVIEW

THE 2000/2001 season will be one that every die-hard Widnes fan is sure to remember.

For this was the year that the Vikings knocked on the door of Super League and forced themselves back into the big time.

Many Widnes fans believe that they should never have been playing in the Northern Ford Premiership to begin with, but few could have much to complain about now with the mouth-watering prospect of players like Keiron Cunningham, Andy Farrell and Robbie Paul about to grace the Auto Quest turf.

Many of the trophy winning Vikings team will no longer be playing at Widnes next season and Neil Kelly now has the difficult job of deciding which players will join him next season.

But the triumphant NFP Grand Final winning players will always be remembered in fans' hearts as the ones who realised all their dreams and took them back to where they belong.

The thought of playing against Super League's big guns may be a daunting one but the Vikings' confidence is high after battling through a turbulent season filled with both joy and despair.

The campaign began in December with two straight wins against Whitehaven Warriors and Rochdale Hornets, but the fixture list was unkind to the Vikings and the Christmas period saw them face two of their toughest rivals, Leigh Centurions and Oldham Roughyeds, on Boxing Day and New Years Day.

Both matches ended in defeat and left many Vikings fans wondering whether they could realistically contest a top four place, but a flurry of victories came the Vikings way soon afterwards against Workington, Swinton, Barrow, York, Chorley and Gateshead.

The match against York Wasps was one to remember and saw many long-standing club records shattered.

Phil Cantillon set himself as one of the highest achievers in a Widnes shirt when he quickly became the only man to score five tries in three separate games, before going on to smash his own record with a seven-try tally that put him amongst the great names in the history of Widnes RLFC.

The magic that several fans grew so used to last year was once again in abundance and he conjured up seven top-drawer scores to ensure that he won't be forgotten in a long time.

The game also enabled Ian Watson to equal the club record of most goals scored in a match with his 13-goal haul.

But affairs at the Auto Quest Stadium soon took a turn for the worse when the Vikings crashed to two defeats against Sheffield Eagles and Doncaster Dragons in March.

Many felt that the coaching position at Widnes was a job too soon for coach David Hulme and he left the club to be replaced by Neil Kelly who had guided Dewsbury Rams to a Grand Final win in the previous season.

New faces, including Richard Agar, Matty Long and Richard Agar, followed Kelly from Dewsbury and Paul Atcheson, Craig Weston and Andy Craig were also brought to the club to joined the existing squad and create a formidable Premiership force.

Under Kelly's reign the Vikings lost just two more matches against Featherstone Rovers and Leigh Centurions and the possible turning point of the club's season came when the Vikings met Kelly's former club Dewsbury, at Ram Stadium, where they emerged victorious in a thrilling 13 points to 12 encounter.

The confidence throughout the game and joy at the final hooter seemed to prove that the Vikings had turned a corner and started to believe that they could go far in the competition.

Several of the team flourished under Neil Kelly's guidance including Tommy Hodgkinson, who was unstoppable in his effort and a strong contender for the player of the season award and another forward, Simon Knox terrorised opposition teams with his strong running and tough tackling style.

Jason Demetriou continued to impress and became a firm favourite with the fans who admired his quick footballing brain, deft handling and shrewd sidestep which foxed many opposing backs throughout the season.

The Vikings continued to notch up wins as the race for play off places hotted up, sweeping aside Hunslet, Oldham, Hull KR, Whitehaven, Gateshead, Rochdale, Featherstone, Workington, Swinton, Batley, Chorley, York and Hunslet.

The Vikings' 72-18 win against Chorley Lynx at the Auto Quest in June quickly became a memorable encounter when Phil Cantillon broke the world record for the amount of tries scored in a season by a forward, previously set by Rugby League legend Ellery Hanley.

When Cantillon crossed the line for his third try of the afternoon the entire crowd rose to their feet to applaud his achievement of gaining the record. He went on to score a grand total of 48 tries in the season.

The final game of the domestic season against Hunslet Hawks proved to be an important one. The Vikings beat the Hawks whilst Oldham lost against Hull KR giving the Vikings second spot in the league and ensuring they had a home tie against Rochdale Hornets in the first round of the play-offs.

The Vikings again emerged victors against the Hornets by 34 points to 32 with Club Captain, Martin Crompton, bossing the show and earning himself the man of the match award.

Widnes managed to soak up all of the Hornets' early pressure and were the first to score when Jason Demetriou skirted through the defence and out wide. This provided the Hornets with the sting in the tail they needed and they hit back with two well-worked tries, which took the score to 14-6 in their favour.

But the Vikings were in no mood to lie down and took the game back to the visitors when Atcheson scooted over for a score and Andy Craig plucked a stray ball from the Rochdale line to set off downfield for a superb interception try.

Giant forward Matty Long also got in on the act and stormed over for two tries and quick-thinking Cantillon took a tap penalty to complete the try scoring for the day.

Leigh lost their play-off match at home on the same day to Oldham and the Vikings were rewarded' for their victory with the daunting prospect of travelling to Hilton Park to play Leigh in the major semi-final.

The day of reckoning was two weeks later on July 22 when the dreams of many Widnes fans were realised. The Vikings hadn't beaten the Centurions all season and the stage of the major-semi final proved to be pay back time.

However, things in the first half did not go to plan.

Leigh went in at the break leading by 12 points to four and Widnes had struggled through the first half after squandering possession on several occasions. The Vikings managed just one first half try, possibly the best of the game courtesy of a gutsy run by Chris Percival, but Weston failed to convert and fans were left wondering whether their season's aspirations were all over.

After the half-time break it soon became apparent that whatever Neil Kelly said to his troops had the desired effect and the Vikings returned onto the pitch playing much better rugby. The forwards made constant inroads into the Leigh defence whilst the halfbacks used the ball well to find supporting players running at angles.

Widnes then took the ball to Leigh and the points began to flow. Damien Munro gathered an Agar kick and raced over to score. Weston duly added the extras with a superb touchline conversion and affairs began to look much more promising. Percival grabbed another to take the score to 12-14 and when Munro scored his second, the lead began to look a lot more comfortable and Viking fans began to hope they had pulled one off over the old enemy. Agar and Knox added two drop goals to take the scores to 19-12 but fans' hearts were once again in their mouths when ex-Widnes player, Phil Kendrick scored under the posts with an added conversion to take the scores to 19-18.

Thankfully, the Vikings had more in the tank and with just two minutes left on the clock, Chris McKinney tore through the slack Leigh defence to dive over the line and give the Vikings a well-fought victory.

Man of the Match was the unstoppable Tommy Hodginkson who ran all match long and refused to give up. He was undoubtedly the hero of the day and proved to the Widnes fans and disappointed Leigh coach Paul Terzis that if anyone could dance then Tommy could!

From that point on all roads led to Spotland for the Grand Final against Oldham.