In this N F P match played on 23 Jan 2000 at Auto Quest Stadium , the referee was John Connolly (Wigan), and 3695 people watched. In sunny but very cold weather, the half time score was 10- 4, and Widnes received 12 penalties to Swinton's 4.		GAMESTAR Phil Cantillon
Widnes Vikings	22
Swinton Lions	14

CANTILLON AT THE DOUBLE

The scoreline of this game does not represent what went on, as Widnes were by far the better team. The moves the Vikings pulled off were impressive, sometimes bordering on the scintillating. The problem is that there were too many times when the final pass was dropped with the line at their mercy.
They also put too much pressure on themselves by dropping the ball in defence, allowing a decent Swinton side the chance to score.
This Swinton side came to spoil. Their constant offside, their usual tactic (just check the fair-play league) of fouling more than a dog with diarrhoea, helped them to stay in the game. Yet again the referee was guilty of allowing too much stifling so that we couldn't enjoy Mansson's skills.
When Andy Craig scored after two minutes, it was down to woeful defending as he merely sidestepped along the line looking for a gap. Even David Hulme missed a tackle to allow Swinton's first points of the day.
Verbickas' boot brought Widnes closer, but we had to wait until the 14th minute for a Widnes try. Jason Donohue evaded the tacklers and sucked in the defender before giving David Hulme some space. The veteran lost no time in supplying Phil Cantillon with the ball and the hooker gladly raced in for the try. These two players are the best supporting players you could every want to see in a Widnes shirt, and they can turn a game in the blink of an eye
Steve Gee and Gareth Adams came on from the bench, and they immediately made an impact. Gee's strong running, and Adams' bone-shattering tackles ensured that Swinton didn't get too near the Widnes line. Cliff Eccles joined Gareth in a fine performance against their former colleagues. The big man enjoyed another great game of hard running and offloading in the tackle.
The next try was Cantillon's again, but it was all down to Gareth Adams. He went through the tacklers with no more than a stutter and allowed Phil to take the ball and sprint in again.
We thought the game was over then, but move after move fell short, and there must have been almost enough hair on the terraces for a Gareth Adams wig. If mine was long enough, I would have torn it out. Perhaps the most spectacular missed chance was when Munro spilled the ball in the tackle just ten metres from the line after searing around Marlon Billy.
In between two Paul Smith tries, Damian Munro scored when there seemed to be nothing on. Mansson kicked the ball through and it bobbled over the line. Welsby got a hand to it, but his momentum carried him on and the ball was left there will all but a velvet cushion for Damian to drop on to. Unfortunately, Mansson was helped off the field soon after with a serious-looking leg injury. Another sour point was the sinbinning of David Hulme for use of the elbow when he was just one half of a fight. Also, the constant fouling and spoiling of the Swinton side should have resulted in their being a man or two short.
Widnes really should have won this game by a bigger margin. If they can control their flair in attack, and concentrate a little more under the high ball. Percival and Mann are now masters of bomb protection, so Verbickas and Munro can relax when taking them. Despite a quiet game, Verbickas's kicking was more than enough to see the Vikings marching up the league.

WIDNES

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