Widnes Vikings 6 Salf'd City Reds 22

WIDNES Vikings look to be knee deep in the relegation quagmire following Sunday's 22-6 home defeat by Salford City Reds.

This was only round 10 of 28 in Super League X, but the Vikings will need to improve hugely on this performance to avoid finishing in the bottom two. Indeed, given the improved form of Leigh Centurions in recent weeks, there is a case for suggesting Widnes could end up with the wooden spoon.

The late withdrawal due to mumps of stand off Owen Craigie was a bitter blow to Frank Endacott's men and boy did they miss him. There was not even a hint of the encouraging attacking play, which saw Widnes score 28 points at Hull the previous week.

Ironically, the opening 10 minutes of the match during which the Vikings enjoyed complete territorial domination, should have filled their fans with foreboding.

Four consecutive sets of six on the Salford line produced nothing that looked like it could open up the visitors' defence.

The last tackle kicks into the City Reds in-goal area may just as well have been put through on the third tackle - at least they would have benefited from the element of surprise. It took Salford a while to sort out their handling but when they did eventually get a platform in the Vikings '20' they found their way to the line.

With Widnes prop Terry O'Connor in the sin-bin following an altercation with Salford centre Kevin McGuinness, the City Reds moved the ball through several pairs of hands before Stuart Littler went in on the overlap after 18 minutes.

Just four minutes later he was in again for an almost identical score with the Vikings left side defence looking all at sea. By now it was all Salford and it wasn't long before they increased their lead.

An astute angled grubber kick from loose-forward Chris Charles was latched onto by former Wigan scrum half Luke Robinson who scooped up to score with Charles adding the conversion.

A 14-point half-time deficit isn't insurmountable in modern rugby league but it was difficult to see where the Vikings points could come from.

The visitors seemed content to keep Widnes at arms length in the second half and the score remained the same until the hour mark.

Then a speculative wide pass from scrum half Gray Hulse was intercepted by opposite number Robinson who coasted 40 metres unopposed to the line.

Charles's conversion followed by a penalty ended the hopes of even the most optimistic Widnes fans at 22-0.

A consolation try from the never-say-die O'Connor after he was first to a Hulse short kick did little to lift the gloom.

Widnes: Connolly; Emelio; Viane; Moule; Barnett; Myler (1g); Hulse; O'Connor (1t); Millard; Whitaker; Cassidy; Frame; Finnigan; Subs: Mills; Stankevitch; Fa'alogo; Smith.