WIDNES VIKINGS coach Allan Coleman says he was proud, but disappointed, by his side’s 25-12 Challenge Cup third-round home defeat to Leeds.
Widnes pulled themselves back into the contest in the second half, reducing arrears to 18-12, before Riley Lumb’s solo score put the game beyond them.
It was a similar gutsy performance to the one Widnes put in against Super League opposition last year, when they pushed Warrington all the way in the fourth round.
Coleman said: “I’m proud but gutted. We focused all week on being the best of us and in the first half, I thought we weren’t.
“We were completing at 68 percent and losing the ball on tackle three or four, so I was disappointed in that. We got in some good areas and had a lot of opportunities in good ball against them, but our passing or depth wasn’t good enough.
“At half-time, we said we’ve got to be better and we focused on that and we were much better at keeping the ball.
“There were long periods of time where they got nothing from us. We focused on getting to tackle six as much as possible for Jordan Abdull’s kicking game, and it worked massively.
“We said all week, if we’re the best that Widnes can be, we’ll cause them problems, and I thought we did. The penalty-goal and the drop-goal (by Leeds) is a pat on the back for our boys, but we’re disappointed because we left some points out there.”
Widnes lost skipper Jack Owens towards the end of the first half with a cut to the head, but as he had played on, his removal from the pitch couldn’t be assigned as a HIA. He did return, bandaged, later on in the match.
Coleman also provided an update on his injured quartet from the win over North Wales Crusaders, with backrower Sam Wilde set to be sidelined for five weeks with an ankle injury, which was better than Widnes had hoped.
Outside backs Joe Edge and Jumah Sambou (who is on loan from Hull KR) and loose-forward Nick Gregson all sat out the Leeds match.
Edge is unlikely to be back for the trip to Workington this Sunday, but all three should be available for the away game at Oldham a week on Friday, February 20.
Scrum-half Tom Gilmore is also back to full fitness after a pelvic/groin injury and in contention for the Workington game.
Former Warrington winger Frank Sergent should be back running in the next fortnight after suffering a broken leg in the close-season, while prop Liam Bent is having an operation on a shoulder injury.