In this N F P match played on 26 Mar 2000 at Auto Quest Stadium , the referee was Ronnie Laughton (Barnsley), and 3001 people watched. In sunny and quite warm weather, the half time score was 18- 6, and both teams received 5 penalties.		GAMESTAR Cliff Eccles
Widnes Vikings	30
Batley Bulldogs	10

CHANGES BEAR FRUIT

Although it would be dangerous to bring about wholesale changes to the team, it was hoped that David Hulme would endeavour to improve the overall Widnes performance. By bringing in Liam Jones from the A Team, he sought to provide more points from goalkicks.
The dropping of Simon Verbickas to the bench for the first time in his Widnes career showed that the winger can respond to the warning. He tackled well and ran strongly when he replaced the also impressive Andy Cheetham.
And if Jones was expected just to improve the kicking, he served notice that he doesn't intend to give up his first team place now he has at last been given the chance. He ran well from defence and showed that he isn't afraid to tackle the opposition and catch the ball.
But of course, the optimism has spread throughout the whole side. Cliff Eccles ran well after a mediocre game last week, and Chris Percival and Phil Cantillon continued to run rings around the opposition. And Paul Mansson is starting to find form again. His two individual tries showed his magical capabilities of conjuring up four points out of nothing.

Andy Cheetham's try on 8 minutes was well scored in the corner amidst pressure from the Batley defence. Chris Percival ran well to provide his winger with the chance.
The difficult conversion was a real tester as young Liam Jones stepped up. He took it with ease though, as it shot straight over the bar. Of course, Verbickas got an identical one at York last week, but consistency is required, and it was time for Jones to show what he could do.
Percival turned try-maker again a minute later when he found himself galloping towards the line. Faced with the fullback, he decided to give Cantillon a go, and the hooker showed his pace to sprint in from 40 metres.

But then Widnes decided to go to sleep...
This game started to follow the usual pattern. We score tries early on, let the inferior opposition get a foothold, and then beat them off in the latter stages.
The annoying thing is that the tries we let in are pathetic efforts that Wigan St Cuthberts would have snuffed out. We either let a big fat forward burst over from close range or stand off a man as he runs, runs, runs some more, and then before you know it, he's at the line scoring four points. The first Batley try should Great Uncle Roger Simpson running flat out. He fed to Gleadhill and the Widnes defence watched him. When Munro got hold of him, the try still needed scoring, but our fullback was unable to prevent it.
Ten minutes later, Paul Mansson got the Widnes machine back on track with a lovely dummy that never fails to excite the Vikings' followers, and saw off the despairing tacklers to score. Jones was now on three out of three conversions. He missed a penalty, fairly straight but quite distant, showing that he is not flawless, but he was doing well.
After the break, Mansson dummied at the other end, showing more sleight-of-hand than Paul Daniels to send the defenders the wrong way as he scampered through.
Widnes again let slip a try, as Lingard ran at an angle almost parallel to the try line. Widnes defenders either watched or stroked him on his way, and it was disappointing to see this. The concentration lapses simply must stop.
Simon Verbickas ran seventy metres before being tackled, and Afi Leuila showed hints of what he can do, by charging upfield on several occasions. But the Leuila centre was where both tries were scored. If teams realise that easy points can be made here, they will punish us.
The scoring was rounded off by a Cliff Eccles effort fifteen minutes from time. This was just desserts for a fine attacking performance from the prop.
Liam Jones scored all his conversions and this will please Hulme and Foran as they start the hard job of taking Widnes to the top. They have plans, and the addition of Esene Faimalo will give pace and experience up the middle.
We will need all the talent we can get for the visit to Hull KR next week. Nobody expects the Vikings to win, but I know they are well capable of it on their day.

WIDNES

1. Damien Munro
2. Liam Jones
3. Chris Percival
4. Afi Leuila
5. Andy Cheetham
6. Paul Mansson
7. Karl Fitzpatrick
8. Lee Hansen
9. Phil Cantillon
10. Cliff Eccles
11. Dave Smith
12. Mick Hill
13. David Hulme
14. Jason Donohue
15. George Mann
16. Simon Verbickas
17. Andrew O'Neill