In this friendly match played on 12 Dec 1999 at Cougar Park , the referee was Ronnie Laughton (Barnsley), and 800 people watched. In cold and mainly dry weather, the half time score was 14- 8, and Keighley received 10 penalties to Widnes's 8.		GAMESTAR Paul Mansson
Keighley Cougars	28
Widnes Vikings	34

In this slightly unorthodox friendly, the match was split into three periods of half an hour. Therefore, we got ten minutes extra rugby all for a fiver. Given the display of rugby, it was excellent value for money!
Mind you, the game started badly for Widnes, as Keighley quickly went into a 14-2 lead after Simon Verbickas scored his first goal of the season after two minutes. The infamous Cougar Park slope was really working in favour of the home side as they hit the Vikings' line at pace to expose defensive frailties.
The first try eased the worries of travelling fans, though, as Karl Fitzpatrick showed ingenuity to recover from a stumble and sidestep through the cover for a try which Verbickas converted. It was really the Cougars who were on top for the first third, and the second third showed how much the slope had to do with it, as the visitors began to take charge.
After a Keighley try from Craig Horne, Paul Mansson started the fightback with a trademark dummy. Adams kept up with his fellow kiwi as he darted towards the fullback and gratefully took the pass to steam over the line.
Although the impressive Andy Cheetham went close on a couple of occasions, we had to wait until the 63rd minute for Widnes to score again. Mansson delighted us with another dummy and set Munro on a weaving run in midfield. He gave Cheetham the ball and he narrowly missed out on a try in the corner. The ball was sent across the field, and Steve Argent took the ball from first receiver, using his considerable size to barge over for a barnstorming try.
Then, two minutes later, came the try of the second third.
Mansson put Danny Myler through the gap. Myler, playing at his favoured loose forward position, set Afi Leuila on a sprint down the left flank before Verbickas finished off the 80 yard move in the corner with a dazzling try.
Playing uphill in the last third, Widnes continued to dominate, but a couple of slack tackles kept Keighley in it until the end.
A wide pass to Cassidy enabled Reddicliffe to score his first, and the second came from an inside pass from Munro after he had taken out two defenders.
All in all, this was an accomplished display from a Widnes side containing many youngsters. Cheetham, Leuila, Fitzpatrick and Gee stood out for me, with solid displays from Donohue, Hill, Myler and Karl Long.

WIDNES

1. Damien Munro
2. Peter Smith
3. Afi Leuila
4. James Briers
5. Simon Verbickas
6. Paul Mansson
7. Karl Fitzpatrick
8. Lee Hansen
9. Jim Cassidy
10. Cliff Eccles
11. Steve Gee
12. Gareth Adams
13. Danny Myler
14. Andy Cheetham
15. Jason Donohue
16. Dave Smith
17. Mick Hill
18. Alan Reddicliffe
19. Karl Long
20. Steve Argent
21. David Mills