Wire fan Rob Watson reflects on victory over Widnes, in the spirit of 1955 when Warrington last won the championship

WIRE went into Thursday's fixture against Widnes needing to back up the win against Leeds to make it into the start of a winning run rather than merely a one off.

This was far from being an overly impressive victory, but in a game they really needed to win, they did just that.

With a few players missing the most pleasing thing about the night was probably the sign of strength in depth within the squad, something they will almost certainly need if they are to climb the table to where they want to be.

The attack now looks simple but effective and the defence is looking solid, so the winning run that is required is looking possible.

To win many games in Super League it’s likely that Wire will have to win without playing well sometimes, which has been something they have struggled with for a while, but this game, particularly the second half was definitely a case of doing just that.

Hopefully this is just the sort of win you want in the first game of the Easter weekend, two points earned but with the distinct impression there is more to come in today's clash with Huddersfield Giants.

Against Widnes they got off to the worst possible start when a bizarre dropped ball by Russell got the ultimate punishment as Widnes scored in the corner for a four-nil lead.

For the rest of the first half though Wire were the dominant team, carrying on where the left off against Leeds with lots of yardage gained down the middle and good defence of their own allowing them to dominate territorially.

They weren’t behind for long as they attacked the Widnes line moving the ball to the left, two accurate passes from Patton and then Ratchford allowing Lineham to go over in the corner.

Hughes was the next to score, crashing over from close range after running onto a pass from Gidley.

By this stage it was only Wire who looked like scoring, Atkins and Patton came really close but were denied, in between those moments Philbin had crashed over, just about getting the ball to the line and at full speed it did not look like he made a double movement.

Patton added a drop goal to stretch the lead to thirteen points just before half time.

In the second half it looked like Wire dropped down a few levels and to be fair to Widnes they definitely improved, both of which meant Widnes had the better of the second half and Wire’s goal line defence was tested on several occasions.

It was a test that they dealt with well, only conceding the one try in the second half, enough to hang on for a 19-10 win.