In this N F P match played on 06 Feb 2000 at Recreation Ground , the referee was Paul Lee (Leigh), and 1384 people watched. In wet and gale force weather, the half time score was 12- 6, and Whitehaven received 6 penalties to Widnes's 4.		GAMESTAR Phil Cantillon
Whitehaven Warriors	13
Widnes Vikings	6

NOT GOOD ENOUGH

People ask me why I don't get Widnes Vikings' permission to make this the official site. If I did so, then I couldn't write a match report like this...

Widnes were absolutely abysmal today. They lacked passion and forethought, preferring to play safe yards, albeit very short ones, up the middle of the field. It just wasn't good enough.
The field itself was a quagmire that would be more suited to wellies than rugby boots, but that is an unacceptable excuse. Whitehaven could handle it.
True, Whitehaven know how to play on it, but that is an unacceptable excuse. The Widnes players and coaching staff have played in Whitehaven and other grounds with slutchy fields. They could and should have come up with a suitable game plan.
They have big forwards, but that is an unacceptable excuse. Cliff Eccles, Lee Hansen, George Mann and Gareth Adams can match any forward in this league for size and strength, but they were made to look second rate. Chris Percival made more yards than them in one run.
They were bad conditions for passing the ball, but that is an unacceptable excuse, as Whitehaven passed the ball to both wings throughout the match, despite their heavy reliance on forward play.
Simon Verbickas stated on the radio saying that Widnes gave 100 per cent commitment. Well, the spirit to keep defending may have been there, and the defence mostly held firm, but when four players fail to stop Frazer as he stampedes towards the try line, and David Hulme runs twenty yards, looking left and right for the support that just wasn't coming, and when a loose ball is left on a plate for Kiddie to pounce on, there's room for more.
Whitehaven were no better than Lancashire Lynx, to whom they lost last week, but Widnes failed to capitalize on this.
Who the hell do I think I am? A Widnes supporter, who hasn't missed a single game since 15th May 1998. I commit myself to following Widnes everywhere, and updating a web site in their honour. I drove to Whitehaven and back in gale force winds in the hope of seeing Widnes win at the Recreation Ground for the first time since before this website began in 1997. I expect the players to win the odd game. The law of averages says that we would win more than this at Whitehaven. We can't just throw up our hands and say, "well, we never expected to win it, did we?"
The real reason behind this bad display occurred to me on the way to Cumbria, when we passed the team coach on the M6. Arriving at a match just over an hour before kick off is just not good enough. We have some big men in our side, and being cooped up in a coach is going to make anyone's muscles seize up. Is it really too much to pay for a cheap B&B, travel up on the Saturday, have a training session, get in an early night, and take a five minute trip to the ground? I'm talking about 21 men here. Not the hangers-on, but the 17 players, two reserves and a couple of coaches. Say 20 each? What is an extra 420 pounds? I'm sure the directors would be more than willing to pay winning pay, and the club would make a loss on a game like this anyway. But what value do you place on two league points?


Right, the rant is out of the way. Come on Gary, what about the good points?

Well, it was a better Widnes performance than in recent years, if only because the points difference was just 7 points. We could have scraped at least a draw, when Andy Cheetham slipped over with the line at his mercy, and Chris Percival made a wonderful break through the cover only to be halted at the last hurdle. Phil Cantillon was as active as ever, but he couldn't get anywhere with the thick mud. Verbickas fielded the many deep Whitehaven kicks well, and Leuila made a nuisance of himself when given the chance.
The tackling overall, was acceptable. There were a couple of blips, plus some bad defence that was saved by last ditch attempts, but I can't grumble about that.
The try, when it came, was another individual effort from that man Mansson. If only he could have done it just once more, this rather negative report could have been so much more positive. And am I the only one in the ground who thought Lee Kiddie didn't ground the ball properly, or was the wind drying up my contact lenses?
Still, this all needs to be put behind us ready for the Dewsbury match next week. The pitch will be much better, the Widnes support much better, the atmosphere much better, and I'm sure the performance will be much better.
Come on lads, you can do it! We owe them one!

WIDNES

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