In this N F P match played on 27 Feb 2000 at Auto Quest Stadium , the referee was Paul Lee (Leigh), and 2871 people watched. In cold, wet and windy weather, the half time score was 2- 0, and Widnes received 5 penalties to Sheffield's 7.		GAMESTAR Karl Fitzpatrick
Widnes Vikings	3
Sheffield Eagles	0

WIDNES WIN BY LESS THAN EVERTON

The quality of this game was decided by the weather. There was little scope for scintillating rugby, and the old adage of rain being the great equaller certainly rang true.
Widnes may only have beaten them by 3 points, but Hull KR could only beat them by 2, so on their day they can be a match for any team.
In such wintery conditions as this, it was always going to be ruled by good forward play. Widnes had this in Steve Argent, who came out well on top of early exchanges, and Lee Hansen. For Sheffield, John Bruce made good ground.
It's hard to come up with specific incidents that turned the game. It was a good defensive effort from both teams, including some efficient individual efforts from Damian Munro when the line was breached. Munro gave his best showing for a while, running the ball out from deep, and taking the ball through the Sheffield line on a couple of occasions.
A similar game was enjoyed by Simon Verbickas. He too took the ball up well and impressed me with his committed defensive work.
Cheetham was again eager for work, often coming into the middle of the field, and Cantillon stood out again with his incessant midfield breaks.
Karl Fitzpatrick got on to the score sheet again with his "second" drop goal in as many weeks, and capped another good performance.
I know it's just an excuse, but Colin Whitfield's side is built for summer rugby. And when the good weather comes, so the pitches will dry out, and the sexy rugby will come from Mansson, Fitzpatrick and Donohue. But if we can nil a side in dreadful conditions that we are obviously not suited to, then the two points are well earned.
And a jump from 6th place to top is awaiting the Vikings if they can beat Rochdale on Wednesday. Come on lads!

WIDNES

1. Damian Munro
2. Andy Cheetham
3. Chris Percival
4. Danny Myler
5. Simon Verbickas
6. Paul Mansson
7. Karl Fitzpatrick
8. Steve Argent
9. Phil Cantillon
10. Cliff Eccles
11. Steve Gee
12. Dave Smith
13. David Hulme
14. Afi Leuila
15. Lee Hansen
16. George Mann
17. Jason Donohue