In this N F P match played on 11 Jun 2000 at Auto Quest Stadium , the referee was Ian Smith (Oldham), and 3162 people watched. In warm but slightly breezy weather, the half time score was 26- 0, and Widnes received 8 penalties to Workington's 4.		GAMESTAR Phil Cantillon
Widnes Vikings	42
Workington Town	16

TERRIFIC TOMMY

Tommy Hodgkinson led a Widnes charge against hapless Workington to take revenge on their win up at Derwent Park.
Although Phil Cantillon earned the man of the match accolades, it was a tireless display of running that showed his colleagues the way. The loose forward improves with every game, and here his power seemed to get him more yards in the tackle than before. And if his team-mates can support him more, then he could prove absolutely devastating.
Vikings fans were hoping history wouldn't repeat itself as Afi Leuila went in for another early try. Fortunately this time, the Vikings didn't fold, but went on to bigger and better things.
Steve Gee found the gap after 10 minutes, to surge forty yards to the line for a trademark try.
With Mansson away, Liam Jones was given an opportunity to shine, and he took his chance by receiving the ball from Chris Percival before drawing the man and slipping it back to the centre to pierce the defence and score.
Steve Gee supplied the ball for Cantillon to sprint in to kickstart the hooker's hat-trick which made him the highest-scoring hooker in the history of the game.
Argent burst over just before the break to make it 26-0 to the Vikings, and a nilling was on the cards.
A better performance from Town restricted Widnes to three second half tries, one for Simon Knox, who deserved his try after knocking the Cumbrians around all day, and two for Cantillon. If anything was lacking from this performance, it was the goalkicking accuracy we may need to be a force in the playoffs. Verbickas is now back in the first team squad, but he must be given a chance over Leuila, to bring some more consistency to the kicking.
But most players did well. Briers was safe at fullback, Karl Long was penetrative out wide, and Steve Gee showed great strength. If they can maintain their form against Oldham, there is the very real prospect of a home tie in the playoffs. Wouldn't that be a novelty?

WIDNES

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