In this N F P match played on 04 Jun 2000 at Craven Park , the referee was Graeme Shaw (Wigan), and 1829 people watched. In damp conditions but dry and mild weather, the half time score was 10- 12, and both teams received 8 penalties.		GAMESTAR Tommy Hodgkinson
Barrow Border Raiders	20
Widnes Vikings	17

BRING BACK BING

If ever there was justification for bringing back Simon Verbickas it is this game. He has been dropped for 11 games, so if our coaches thought that he needed a spell in the reserves to improve his commitment, then 11 games is more than enough. From what I've seen he is more than ready to return to the first team, with his kicking, his defence and his attacking play. Liam Jones, after the first few games, has shown that he is no better at kicking goals than Verbickas. Most recently, he has been dire, to the point that kicking duties have been taken from him during several games. Given Jones' lightweight build and performances, I say give Bing his chance. He will never let you down in defence, and has the pace and strength to beat most teams, given the chance.
The squandered penalties in the second half were an absolute travesty that should not go unpunished. No matter who missed them, these penalties were very kickable and ultimately cost us the match. Action should be taken.
Of course, the penalties may have been academic had our halfbacks been able to produce plays that had any chance of working. Too many times, Fitzpatrick and Birdseye chose to run themselves when they had powerful forwards ready or overlaps out wide. They are halfbacks and should be willing to use the ball to create gaps in the defence.
Only Paul Mansson showed any creativity. He gave us the first try of the game after just 2 minutes, when he threw a dummy out wide to score himself. On eleven minutes, Mansson was involved again. He drew the defence wonderfully before slipping the ball out to Percival to score. Add that to his tackling, and he was a true benefit to the team. It's a pity he suffered an injury and had to leave the field for a period in the second half.
Steve Gee scored the third Widnes try after running on to a Birdseye pass to break the defence.
But perhaps the saddest part of this game was the lack of defensive patterns. Far too many times, Steve Gee's exemplary strength was the only thing stopping certain tries, as he brought down men with a desperate lunge of the arm. And to keep Barrow in their own 20 metre area for four tackles, only to see them at the other end of the field ready to score by the next one is absolutely criminal.
When the ball was kicked upfield, Widnes were far too slow in the chase, allowing Holt and Smith too much space to recover from their lackadaisical efforts. When the chase did come, the defensive line was usually as straight as Julian Clary, allowing one sidestep to make 20 yards.

True, this is a moan rather than a report, but there were some good points. Knox and Hodgkinson ran well, a well-marked Cantillon showed brief moments of class, and Kilgannon and Percival ran well. If the commitment in defence of Mansson and Gee were mirrored by their team-mates, the scoreline might have been very very different. The referee was abysmal, missing several knockons and fabricating a few others, but you can't take this defeat away from Widnes. They brought it on themselves. And at this stage of the season, with our rivals all winning, this is one match we may have to look back on and say, "What if...?"

WIDNES

1. Damian Munro
2. Liam Jones
3. Chris Percival
4. Eddie Kilgannon
5. Andy Cheetham
6. Paul Mansson
7. Lee Birdseye
8. Simon Knox
9. Phil Cantillon
10. Lee Hansen
11. Steve Gee
12. Mick Hill
13. Tommy Hodgkinson
14. Afi Leuila
15. Chris Murphy
16. Karl Fitzpatrick
17. Steve Argent