JOEL Monaghan regained his feet after being mobbed by his teammates in the conclusion to the most exciting Wolves home win in 12 seasons at The Halliwell Jones Stadium.

After planting down the ball right in front of the Widnes fans to win the game with 14 seconds left on the clock, the Wolves skipper walked away saying: “Just enjoy this boys, one of the all-time greats.”

He was not referring to the magical moments surrounding a try that had sent three sides of the ground ballistic while those in the West Stand were ‘Googling’ a number for The Samaritans.

Monaghan was talking about his song Lady In Red, the one he has chosen to be played over the tannoy after he scores tries.

Chris De Burgh’s lyrics could not have been more apt to those super sweet few seconds that saw the prolific scorer pick up Stefan Ratchford’s pass off his bootlaces and cut inside two defenders before pandemonium broke out, teammates rushing in to congratulate and celebrate:

I’ve never seen you shine so bright, you were amazing,

I’ve never seen so many people want to be there by your side,

And when you turned to me and smiled, it took my breath away.

Wolves have been on the wrong end of some bad ones, notably Keiron Cunningham’s late show for St Helens 10 years ago, so it was special to be on the other side this time.

And particularly so against Widnes, whose supporters had started celebrating their team’s ‘first away win of the season’ too early and had been taunting about bragging rights since Wolves lost at the Select Security Stadium on April 2.

Tony Smith’s men had looked out on their feet in the late stages of a frantic game, despite the lifeline of outstanding Ben Westwood’s 64th minute wrecking-ball try cutting to two points a lead Widnes first established early in the second half thanks to two scores from Kevin Brown.

Many will argue that going 14-4 ahead in the first half, when Westwood created Monaghan’s first try and another for Daryl Clark, they were sloppy in falling behind but that final moment of ecstasy was priceless and outscored all other factors.

INTERESTING NOTES

Joel Monaghan’s two tries takes his total to 135 in 130 games, putting him onto the club’s all-time top 10 try scorers list. Two more tries will put him up to ninth above Bobby Greenough (136) and Jim Challinor (135). Next in his sights would Lee Briers (154).

Stefan Ratchford’s 100th game in Warrington colours.

MATCH FACTS

Super League Round 13, Sunday, May 3, 2015

Warrington Wolves...22 Widnes Vikings...20

Wolves: Stefan Ratchford; Joel Monaghan, Chris Bridge, Ryan Atkins, Gene Ormsby; Declan Patton, Richie Myler; Chris Hill, Micky Higham, Anthony England, Ben Westwood, Ben Currie, Ben Harrison. Subs: Daryl Clark, Ashton Sims, Roy Asotasi, James Laithwaite.
Vikings: Rhys Hanbury; Paddy Flynn, Stefan Marsh, Chris Dean, Jack Owens; Kevin Brown, Joe Mellor; Eamon O’Carroll, Lloyd White, Alex Gerrard, Danny Tickle, Danny Galea, Willie Isa. Subs: Chris Clarkson, Aaron Heremaia, Phil Joseph, Manase Manuokafoa.

Scoring: Ormsby try, 11mins, 4-0; Owens try, 22mins, 4-4; Monaghan try, 32mins, 8-4; Clark try, 34mins, Ratchford goal, 14-4; Flynn try, 40mins, 14-8; Brown try, 44mins, Owens goal, 14-14; Brown try, 57mins, Owens goal, 14-20; Westwood try, 64mins, 18-20; Monaghan try, 80mins, 22-20.

Penalties: Wolves 8 Vikings 6
Referee: Ben Thaler
Attendance: 10,856
Top man: Stefan Ratchford