In this N F P match played on 29 May 2000 at Auto Quest Stadium , the referee was Peter Taberner (Wigan), and 3186 people watched. In damp conditions but dry and windy weather, the half time score was 16- 8, and Widnes received 10 penalties to Whitehaven's 3.		GAMESTAR Tommy Hodgkinson
Widnes Vikings	22
Whitehaven Warriors	12

TIRED WIDNES HAVE JUST ENOUGH

If ever there was justification for abolishing the Bank Holiday weekend practice of playing two games, this was it. Two tired teams gave us a game that lacked sustained excitement and contained Widnes tries that were all individual affairs.
If the bones weren't tired, the Widnes brains were. There was hardly any creative play from the Vikings, and after these two victories against Swinton and Whitehaven, David Hulme will relish the five days they have to rest before the hazardous trip to Barrow.
It seemed that Widnes would cruise this, though. As in the first minute, Karl Long stole the ball in a one-on-one tackle just inside the Whitehaven 20 yard line. Simon Knox drove close to the line before Phil Cantillon drove in under the posts from the play the ball. Jones goaled.
But Whitehaven weren't going to lie down and die. They soon found themselves at the other end of the field, and were happy for Gary Hetherington to tag on a penalty goal after Lee Hansen was penalised for offside.
Another try seemed a certainty on 12 minutes, when Lee Hansen broke clear. The Tongan prop found Cantillon waiting on his shoulder to take the ball up. The hooker sprinted fifty yards in a diagonal chase to the line but was brought down just short. In the next play, Fitzpatrick took the ball himself and was unceremoniously bundled into touch.
Five minutes later, Andy Cheetham became the scapegoat. He took the ball from a long Whitehaven kick and ran the ball out. When confronted with the Whitehaven chasers, he decided against taking the tackle and re-entered the dead ball area to skirt them. Unfortunately, they tackled him there and from the resultant drop-out, Stoddart scored in the corner, and Hetherington's touchline conversion made it 6-8 to Whitehaven.
The second individualistic try came from Paul Mansson. The Kiwi sent the defence the wrong way with a customary dummy, before handing off the last tackler and sprinting 20 yards to the line.
Two minutes from the break, Tommy Hodgkinson dived over from acting half-back and Jones goaled to make it 16-8 to Widnes.
In the second half, Whitehaven enjoyed long periods of pressure. The best Widnes could do was to kick long and hard, to make Whitehaven play in their own territory. But each time, their big forwards made ground and forced Widnes to defend wave after wave of attack. After 4 minutes, the Cumbrians exploited their overlap to send Hill in at the corner.
Jones slotted over a simple penalty on 70 minutes, but had the last word with the try of the game, and possibly of the season.
With two minutes remaining, and Widnes ahead by just six points, there was a scrum ten yards inside the Widnes half. Jones took the ball and ran to the left, outpacing the cover. He saw the gap and raced through it, but had to accelerate past two more defenders before grounding the ball in the corner. It was an excellent display of pace and determination that gave the scoreline a respectability that perhaps wasn't deserved.
But a win's a win, as they say. And with rivals playing each other over the next few weeks, the ability to win when playing badly is a talent worth having.

WIDNES

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