In this N F P match played on 09 Apr 2000 at Auto Quest Stadium , the referee was John Connolly (Wigan), and 3308 people watched. In bright but windy weather, the half time score was 8- 12, and Widnes received 8 penalties to Keighley's 7.		GAMESTAR Esene Faimalo
Widnes Vikings	18
Keighley Cougars	30

CONNOLLY CONS VIKINGS

If ever there was a case of double standards, this was it.
A mass brawl breaks out, a Widnes player is dismissed, and a Keighley player is put on report. Put on report? You mean you think he might have hit someone? A big fat prop ran in and helped a couple of colleagues to beat up diminutive Karl Fitzpatrick? If I could put into words the anger and incredulity I feel about this decision, I'd be writing novels, not a minority website.
Anyway, the following 50 minutes showed Widnes put out a manful display against the man extra of Keighley. In fact, they even led until a minute before half time, until a Keighley kick through was bounced from the posts and the ever-active Martin Wood pounced. The tale of the game was shown in the names of the scorers and the goalkicking stats. Widnes worked hard to get the ball to the wingers, and Jones had an extremely difficult task getting the goals from the touchline, often against a strong wind. Keighley, on the other hand, were able to exploit tiring Vikings and an out of form fullback to score via forwards by the posts. The resulting conversions were relatively easy efforts.
The fact that Widnes only lost by 5 tries to 4 is a much more indicative statistic of the game than the scoreline, which suggests Keighley had the match more or less their own way.
It was nice to see Esene Faimalo bring out a good performance, and when players realise he is willing to slip the ball from the tackle, they will hopefully start to support him. Unfortunately, the only good thing to come from Afi Leuila was the pass that gave Liam Jones his second try. The Tongan must surely be given a place in the A team as Verbickas has done. If Bing can play well and go to the A team, surely he can swap places with the man who has promised so much, and yet has delivered so little.
Also, the much rumoured groin injury to Damian Munro must be treated, NOW. Our fullback is one of the greatest players in the NFP, but he is being reduced to scapegoat whenever a big-hitting runner gets to him. He used to save try after try in one-on-one situations, but now he can't seem to tackle when the pressure is on. David Hulme has shown his willingness to blood U21 stars, so let the much-celebrated Adam Hughes show his wares in the big time.

WIDNES