» May 27th 2001
» Town 6 : 25 Widnes Vikings

Town were facing their third game in eight days. Today's visitors have recruited well in their quest for Super League status. Amongst their squad are several well-known players throughout the game and they included several familiar faces who have played for Town in recent years.

The first half saw the honours even. Town dominated the first fifteen minutes of the second half before falling behind close to the hour to a try and a drop goal. Two further tries late on gave Widnes a bigger winning margin, but the score line did not really reflect the game.

Town had made several changes after the two previous defeats. Lynton Stott moved to scrum half, Steven Wood was making his starting debut at fullback and Matthew Woodcock was given a start on the wing in place of Jonathan Heaney.

Matt Sturm, Anthony Samuel and Owen Williamson were involved in all Town's moves, Matthew Tunstall and Lokeni Savelio made a good impact from the bench.

The early exchanges saw the forwards trying to slow each other down at the play of the ball. Widnes were punished twice in quick succession for lying on in the tackle. From the second of these in the third minute Tane Manihera elected to kick for goal. The kick came off the upright and into touch. Strangely the referee gave the scrum to Widnes.

The next penalty was again for lying on in the tackle but this time it was against Town. Widnes used the ball well and were deep into the Town half. Ian Watson on the last tackle put up a high cross-field kick into the corner. The Town defence were put under pressure and the ball was knocked into touch at the cost of the scrum on their own 10-metre line.

Town defended well and again on the last tackle Widnes elected to use the high bomb. This time the Town defence dealt with the kick. Matthew Woodcock took the ball in the in-goal area for a 20-metre tap.

Town fell behind in the tenth minute. They had been awarded a scrum for a forward pass on the halfway line, losing the possession on the first tackle when the ball carrier lost the ball in a one-on-one tackle. Widnes used the ball well and soon had Town on the back foot. Ian Watson released Steve Gee with a well-timed pass, the second rower burst through the Town defensive line. Phil Cantillon was in support and collected the pass and went in to score under the posts. Craig Weston easily added the conversion.

The game was end-to-end. Town dealt with the high kick again from Widnes. They ran the ball back at the defence and all the forwards took their turn. A penalty for offside had the home side deep into the Widnes half. Graeme Lewthwaite went close on the fifth tackle, but he was held up close to the line. From the last Town put in a neat kick, but the ball rolled dead in-goal.

Manihera put in a beautiful 40/ 20 kick in the sixteenth minute to gain Town a scrum on the Widnes 20-metre line. The Cumbrian forwards used the ball well, Matt Sturm putting in a hard drive for the line before passing out of the tackle to the supporting Stuart Hoyles who crashed over the line close to the posts. The referee looked to the nearside touch judge. He indicated he saw nothing wrong but the touch judge on the far side deemed that the ball had gone forward in the pass and ruled out the score.

Both sides were playing well and using their forwards to gain the field advantage and then put in the testing kicks. Manihera put a kick into the Widnes in-goal area in the 20th minute but the kick was allowed to go dead by the defence after no Town players gave chase.

Widnes again went close in the 23rd minute. Ian Watson making the gaps and from his break he passed out to Jason Demetriou who crossed the line but lost the ball in the tackle.

Manihera again put the Widnes defence under pressure in the 28th minute. Town had been awarded a scrum deep in their own half for a knock-on by Joe Faimalo. On the second tackle the scrum half saw that the fullback was up in the defensive line and kicked deep into the Widnes half. Matthew Woodcock put in a great chase and ran nearly 60 metres before Paul Atcheson beat him to the ball.

A penalty in the 29th minute for holding in the tackle allowed Manihera again to elect to kick for goal. This time his attempt hit the crossbar and the Widnes defence collected the loose ball.

Again, both sides used their forwards to gain the field advantage before launching the high kicks. The defence from both sides dealt easily with the kicks despite being put under pressure by each other's attack.

The 36th minute had Town defending close to their own 20-metre line. Widnes swung the ball wide out to the right, Jamie Beaumont sped out the line, intercepted the ball and raced away from the Widnes chasers. The second rower covered nearly 70 metres before scoring under the posts. Kevin Hetherington added the conversion to draw the scores level at 6 apiece.

The second half saw Town come out fighting. Lokeni Savelio made a great break in the first minute of the half. The powerful forward pushed away three would-be tacklers before he was finally held. A bad pass from the play of the ball resulted in Town losing possession.

Graeme Lewthwaite put in a great try saving tackle in the 42nd minute. Matthew Long broke through the Town line on halfway and was running for the line. Lewthwaite gave chase and pulled down Long close to the posts. Long lost the ball in the tackle and Town had regained possession.

Town had Widnes under pressure and forced a scrum on the visitor's 10-metre line after Atcheson knocked a Kevin Hetherington kick into touch. The Cumbrians were unable to break the defence and lost the ball on the 3rd tackle.

Ferocious tackling from both sides led to several turnovers and mistakes were starting to creep into the game.

Town were attacking well but were unable to crack the Widnes defence. On 54 minutes they produced a good chance. Lynton Stott put in a low kick through that split the Widnes defence. Carl Sice gave chase and kicked the ball past the defence to continue the opportunity but was wiped out by a defending player. The referee waved play on, much to the disgust of the Town players.

Widnes regained the lead in the 56th minute. Craig Weston made a good break from the line and created the space, his pass to Holgate allowing the former Town favourite to run in unchallenged to score close to the posts. Craig Weston was successful with the conversion attempt to put Widnes into a 6-12 lead.

A 40/20 kick from Ian Watson again put Town under pressure in their own half in the 60th minute. From the possession Richard Agar slotted over the field goal to move Widnes into a 7-point lead.

Town were forced to drop out from under the posts on 68 minutes after Lynton Stott carried the ball dead after a high kick through from the Widnes attack. Widnes used the ball well and Ian Watson put out a long wide pass to Craig Weston who ran at the Town line and pulled in the defence before passing to the supporting Chris Percival who strode down the line to score in the corner. Craig Weston landed the touchline conversion to extend the Widnes lead to 6-19.

Widnes thought they further extended their lead on 71 minutes. Again, they swung the ball out wide and had the overlap. The linesman flagged for a forward pass and the score was wiped out.

Town did not give up and continued to keep the Widnes defence pressed. They forced the visitors to dropout twice in the last ten minutes. They went close in the 76th minute after a good set of six had them threatening the Widnes line.

The last score of the day went to Widnes in the 79th minute. Town lost the ball on the third tackle. Damian Munro burst through the now tired Town defence and powered on to score. Craig Weston kicked the conversion to make the final score 6-25.

Teams
Town: Steven Wood, Matthew Woodcock, Neil Frazer, Kevin Hetherington, Graeme Lewthwaite, Tane Manihera, Lynton Stott, Matt Sturm, Owen Williamson, Hitro Okesene, Jamie Beaumont, Stuart Hoyles, Anthony Samuel
Subs: Kevin Wilson, Lokeni Savelio, Carl Sice, Matthew Tunstall

Widnes: Paul Atcheson, Damian Munro, Craig Weston, Jason Demetriou, Chris Percival, Richard Agar, Ian Watson, Simon Knox, Phil Cantillon, Stephen Holgate, Steve Gee, Sean Richardson, Tommy Hodgkinson.
Subs: Phil Coussons, Chris McKinney, Joe Faimalo, Matthew Long

Attendance: 1,341

Referee: Julian King (St Helens)