WIDNES VIKINGS 36 LONDON BRONCOS 42
JAMES GORDON, DCBL Stadium, Sunday
WIDNES pushed London closer than anyone has managed in the Championship all season, falling six points short in a dress rehearsal for the 1895 Cup final later this month.
The Vikings had stuck with the table-toppers in the first half but looked to have succumbed to defeat when they trailed by 24 points, before launching a rousing comeback in the final ten minutes that came up just short.
London had threatened a couple of early openings through Finley Glare, but it was Widnes that grabbed the first score on ten minutes, Jordan Johnstone catching them out on the last tackle for Danny Langtree to crash over.
The visitors bounced back immediately with back-to-back tries, Elliot Wallis breaking through two tackles on the left before Alex Max took advantage of a short Widnes left edge to power over from close range.
Widnes were short due to an injury to Joe Edge that forced him off the field. His replacement Adam Lawton levelled the scores with a short side run and two outrageous dummies for 12-all midway through the first half.
A scrum play then saw Dean Hawkins put Neil Tchamambe away on the right and his offload put Max in for his second, and then on the other side, London kept it alive on the last tackle with Wallis finding Connor O’Beirne, an early replacement for the injured James Meadows, to put Gairo Voro over.
But Widnes kept within a score at half-time. Danny Richardson’s kick-off towards the goalposts forced a knock-on by Siliva Havili, and from the field position Richardson himself managed to crawl out of a tackle to score for 22-18 at the break.
London piled on the pressure at the start of the second half and scored when Voro pierced through from deep to find the supporting Luke Smith.
They then applied a sucker punch as Tom Gilmore lost the ball as he raced away after intercepting a pass, and London went up the other end for Wallis to ease over for his second and move them ten points clear.
Slick ball movements right then created two tries for Tchamambe and it seemed to be game over at 42-18.
London had won their previous ten league games by 50 points or more, but Widnes had other ideas going in to the final quarter of an hour and scored three tries that had the Broncos wobbling.
Gilmore put Langtree through a gap and then supported on the inside to score under the posts, before Adam Lawton powered through off a short pass as London got in to penalty trouble, finishing on the wrong side of a 9-0 count.
Another penalty got Widnes back up field, and Mike Butt took a bouncing ball to the corner with less than two minutes to go.
Widnes had one look at the London line late on, Gilmore’s high kick being defused by Tchamambe as they clung on to maintain their 100% record.
GAMESTAR: Gairo Voro has a natural ability that makes him a threat in every situation.
GAMEBREAKER: Had Tom Gilmore not put the ball down on an interception, London may not have got too far away for a Widnes recovery.
MATCHFACTS
VIKINGS
23 Nathan Connell
2 Mike Butt
4 Joe Edge
12 Max Roberts
5 Ryan Ince
17 Danny Richardson
7 Tom Gilmore
8 Dan Murray
9 Jordan Johnstone
21 Jay Chapelhow
16 Danny Langtree
11 Sam Wilde
13 Nick Gregson
Subs (all used)
14 Matty Fozard
15 Lewis Hall
19 Adam Lawton
34 Nathan Wilde
Tries: Langtree (10), Lawton (20, 77), Richardson (33), Gilmore (74), Butt (79)
Goals: Richardson 6/6
BRONCOS
18 James Meadows
26 Neil Tchamambe
4 Alex Max
3 Robert Mathias
2 Elliot Wallis
23 Gairo Voro
7 Dean Hawkins
8 Reagan Campbell-Gillard
14 Finley Glare
16 Epel Kapinias
12 Jack Croft
11 Luke Smith
13 Siliva Havili
Subs (all used)
6 Connor O’Beirne
10 Emarly Bitungane
17 Marcus Stock
24 Lewis Bienek
Tries: Wallis (15, 50), Max (18, 23), Voro (32), Smith (45), Tchamambe (61, 69)
Goals: Voro 5/8
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 6-6, 6-12, 12-12, 12-18, 12-22, 18-22; 18-28, 18-32, 18-36, 18-42, 24-42, 30-42, 36-42
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Vikings: Jordan Johnstone; Broncos: Gairo Voro
Penalty count: 9-0
Half-time: 18-22
Referee: Matty Lynn
Attendance: 2,011