In this N F P match played on 30 Apr 2000 at Auto Quest Stadium , the referee was Graeme Shaw (Wigan), and 3171 people watched. In warm and sunny weather, the half time score was 13- 0, and Widnes received 10 penalties to Doncaster's 5.		GAMESTAR Steve Argent
Widnes Vikings	19
Doncaster Dragons	18

ARGIE-BARGIE

So long have I waited to use that headline, but the MOM award was not contrived for that reason....
Before this game, of which the Man-of-the-Match award was sponsored by some of our WWW community, there weren't many people who gave Widnes a chance. Doncaster were riding high at the top of the table, and Widnes were hobbling through an injury crisis. When the team was announced and included an all-U21 threequarter line, this view wasn't changed.
However, this was a team which boasted 8 local boys, and passion was never going to be lacking. From the off, Widnes played like they wanted to win, and like they knew they could. Liam Jones, who scored most of the Widnes points, went close after just 2 minutes when he was narrowly beaten to a kickthrough.
Doncaster set out their stall with another display of dirt tactics. They were penalised after 6 minutes, but there were plenty missed by referee Graeme Shaw and touch judge Richard Silverwood.
Peter Smith hurt his arm after chasing a kick ahead and tackling the Doncaster player. He had to leave the field but returned later on. 3 minutes later, Liam Jones kicked a penalty after the Dragons were caught offside.
It was then that Paul Mansson created a wonderful try. Just into the second quarter, he lofted a great kick from inside the Widnes 40 metre line which bounced well inside the Doncaster 20 metre line, giving head and feed to Widnes. From the resulting scrum, Mansson dummied a pass and then spun a pass to Afi Leuila who had bags of space for an easy try 5 yards in from touch.
Six minutes from the break, Doncaster were again penalised for offside in the Widnes half. Phil Cantillon took a quick tap and raced sixty yards before being tackled. From the resulting play, Paul Mansson found himself able to score a drop goal, his first of the season. When Doncaster were offside again (Why no sinbinning for persistent offside? See Dewsbury(A)) Liam Jones scored the goal from 40 yards.
A 9-0 lead was perfectly acceptable, but the game was changed when Steve Argent capped an already fine display by bursting through the defensive line and accelerating like an express train over 30 yards to put Liam Jones in at the corner.
13-0 at half-time, and it was looking good.
But Doncaster came back, as we knew they would, and it took them just 2 minutes to register some points.
Liam Jones was left exposed and he dropped a high ball. After an untidy dribble to the posts, Craig Weston was first there, and he converted his try to make it 13-6.
Eight minutes later, a rather soft try saw the defence breached, and the scorer took two Vikings defenders across the line with him.
Nine minutes after that, Peter Smith forgot what he was doing and allowed an slow moving ball to roll into touch, thus gifting Doncaster a 40-20. They couldn't capitalize on it though, and Widnes were the next team to score.
Fata Sini gave a pelvic thrust to knock a Mansson kick into touch, and shortly after, Mick Hill supplied a lovely pass to Liam Jones. The winger still had it all to do and zig-zagged through the Dons' defence to score his second. The crucial conversion sailed over.
A good Weston pass gave Doncaster hope with 7 minutes left, and a kickthrough saw Widnes panicking in injury time to bring Doncaster to within 1 point. A relatively easy conversion was missed due to nerves, God's intervention and the crowd's noise, but it ensured that Widnes would enjoy a wonderful victory, and knock the league-leaders from the top for the second time in just over a week.
Although Steve got the MOM award, he was run close by Mansson, Cantillon and Jones. But no Widnes player was poor today, and if this form continues, there could be something very special happening at the end of this season.

WIDNES

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