WIDNES VIKINGS 24 HALIFAX PANTHERS 24
JAMES GORDON, DCBL Stadium, Sunday
WIDNES and Halifax shared the points after the Panthers had shellshocked the Vikings with a second-half comeback.
The Vikings led 16-0 with less than a minute to go until half-time, but seven minutes after the break they found themselves 18-16 down as Kyle Eastmond’s side fought back.
A Tom Gilmore penalty set up a grandstand finish and the game went right to the wire, with Jack Owens missing a difficult penalty with the last kick of the game.
There wasn’t much between the two sides in the early part of the game, Halifax testing Rhys Williams with high kicks on multiple occasions from Jack Hansen that the Welsh international dealt with confidently.
A knock-on by David Nofoaluma from a Gilmore kick gifted Widnes a scrum ten metres out and they used it to open the scoring on 21 minutes, Gilmore waiting for the run of Jack Owens, who dummied and pirouetted his way to the line.
Widnes took control of the first half from that point and got a second try when Williams made a break down the left-hand side from deep, and though he was tackled, Widnes moved the ball right and quick hands from Matty Fozard and Owens sent AJ Towse racing in from 25 metres on the other wing for his first Vikings try.
Playing at stand-off, Owens was central to all that Widnes were doing and he kicked an excellent 40/20 to set up the platform for the third try, linking up with Gilmore to put Adam Lawton bursting through from ten metres out.
But Halifax grabbed a foothold back in the match with the last play of the first half, as a pass out wide found Alfie Johnson, who had infamously dropped the ball when going to score a try on his last visit to this ground while playing for parent club Warrington. Johnson went on a 40-metre weaving run to score under the posts.
Within seven minutes of the restart, the Panthers had hit the front.
With Tibbs having ran inside on the fifth tackle, when Hansen looked to kick right his winger wasn’t there, so instead he swung the ball left and Johnson got up highest to score his second try.
Then a few minutes later, Hansen returned right and this time Charlie Graham got to it to score, with Hansen’s conversion putting Halifax in front for the first time.
A stunned Widnes did wrestle the lead back shortly after the hour mark, when Gilmore’s kick was caught and offloaded by Rhodri Lloyd for Towse to score his second in the corner.
A drop by Towse at his own end invited some Halifax pressure and eventually it told on 69 minutes, when Brandon Douglas took on Hansen’s pass and managed to reach out over the line to put the Panthers back in front.
Their lead was relatively short lived, however, as three minutes later Gilmore levelled the scores with a penalty after a Maizen half-break caught Halifax offside on the next play.
Both sides failed with long-range field-goal attempts late on and they had to settle for the draw.
GAMESTAR: Alfie Johnson put any nightmares of his last visit to Widnes behind him with a fine performance in defence and attack
GAMEBREAKER: The game could have been decided with the very last kick, Jack Owens missing a very difficult penalty from 45 metres out on the hooter.
MATCHFACTS
VIKINGS
33 Jake Maizen
27 AJ Towse
17 Max Roberts
4 Joe Edge
29 Rhys Williams
1 Jack Owens
7 Tom Gilmore
8 Dan Murray
9 Jordan Johnstone
15 Liam Bent
11 Rhodri Lloyd
31 Adam Lawton
18 Nick Gregson
Subs (all used)
13 Morgan McWhirter
14 Matty Fozard
20 Lewis Hall
21 Gavin Bennion
Tries: Owens (21), Towse (31, 63), Lawton (36)
Goals: Gilmore 4/5
PANTHERS
23 David Nofoaluma
2 Ben Tibbs
3 Charlie Graham
21 Alfie Johnson
5 James Saltonstall
6 James Woodburn-Hall
7 Jack Hansen
8 Brandon Douglas
14 Tom Inman
17 Will Calcott
11 Owen McCarron
12 Adam Tangata
22 Maxime Jobe
Subs (all used)
9 Adam O’Brien
13 Jacob Fairbank
33 Leon Cowan
34 Nolan Tupaea
Tries: Johnson (40, 42), Graham (47), Douglas (69)
Goals: Hansen 4/4
SCORING SEQUENCE: 4-0, 10-0, 16-0, 16-6; 16-12, 16-18, 22-18, 22-24, 24-24
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Vikings: Jack Owens; Panthers: Alfie Johnson
Penalty count: 6-3
Half-time: 16-6
Referee: Liam Breheny
Attendance: 2,582