In this Challenge Cup match played on 13 Feb 2000 at Ram Stadium , the referee was John Connolly (Wigan), and 2445 people watched. In sunny but very cold weather, the half time score was 12- 8, and Dewsbury received 14 penalties to Widnes's 7.		GAMESTAR Chris Percival League Express Phil Cantillon
Dewsbury Rams	29
Widnes Vikings	16

PRESSURE TELLS ON WIDNES

It would be easy to blame the referee for this defeat, and a look at the penalty count tells you why.
Of course, it's possible that Widnes were twice as foul as Dewsbury, but they were not. Widnes enjoyed about ten percent of the possession in the first half, and this limited their scoring chances somewhat. A succession of penalties from John Connolly meant that Widnes had to defend manfully to keep a determined Dewsbury out. As it was, their two first half tries were really soft ones from the Vikings' point of view. short range dives from acting half back.
Everytime Barry Eaton tried to pierce the Widnes defence, apart from a few worries, the held firm. It was full credit to them that they ended the first half just four points adrift.
When Cliff Eccles burst over after just two minutes, it was a dream start. But hopes of building on this were extinguished six minutes later when Talbot crashed over. Wave after wave of Dewsbury attacks came to nothing until the half hour mark when a gap appeared at the play-the-ball for Talbot to score his second.
Simon Verbickas brought Widnes to within two four points just before the break, when Barry Eaton was penalised for throwing the ball away. The Dewsbury scrum-half spoke out of turn after the hooter had gone and was subsequently sent to the sin-bin.
In the period that followed, Widnes used the extra man to go close on a couple of occasions. Five minutes after the restart, Chris Percival took the ball on the halfway line. He ran at two forwards and broke through them as if they didn't exist. He galloped thirty yards, sending defenders the wrong way, before being grounded. Then, the ball was spun out the the right, where Afi Leuila continued a good performance by breaking a tackle before sending Andy Cheetham in at the corner.
George Mann was sent to the sinbin for holding down, but Widnes managed to take the lead when Steve Gee crashed over from a Mansson pass. Widnes looked ready to take this match, but Sean Richardson had other plans.
To go ahead in his eternal battle of wits with the Widnes fans, the ex-Widnes player outran the Vikings defence to go over 20 minutes from the end. When Adrian Flynn scored in the same place three minutes later, Widnes' hearts were sunk, and allowed Nathan Ball to add to their misery with ten minutes left.

To be honest, this match didn't really matter, although I was still sad that we'd lost. All we would have got for our trouble was another tricky tie, but against Villeneuve. The hoped for big home tie would have to have waited for another round, but at least now we can "concentrate on the league" as the old cliche goes.
Chris Percival impressed me with his strong running and effective passing to Verbickas, although the winger was never able to outrun O'Meara. Leuila showed us a taste of what he can produce when on-form, and Cantillon was his usual self, making hundreds of yards over the eighty minutes.
Unfortunately, George Mann seems to be hitting a patch of indifferent form. He didn't break the line once, and needs to motivate himself better in the weeks to come. Lee Hansen isn't hitting the heights of last season, but Adams and Smith look to be improving every week.
On Wednesday, the league tie at Rochdale will see a return to normality and a win is essential if we are to keep up any kind of pressure at the top of the table.

WIDNES

1. Damien Munro
2. Andy Cheetham
3. Chris Percival
4. Afi Leuila
5. Simon Verbickas
6. Paul Mansson
7. David Hulme
8. Lee Hansen
9. Phil Cantillon
10. Cliff Eccles
11. George Mann
12. Gareth Adams
13. Dave Smith
14. Danny Myler
15. Mick Hill
16. Karl Fitzpatrick
17. Steve Gee