THE race for the play-off places became even more tense following Widnes Vikings 30-30 draw with Huddersfield Giants on Sunday.

The Vikings now find themselves in seventh place behind local rivals Warrington Wolves on points difference with the two sides due to meet in 10 days' time.

A mistake-ridden game saw the Vikings fail to take the two chances for a match-winning drop-goal but in truth this was a match neither side deserved to win.

The Giants had established a 30-18 half time lead after some decidedly lacklustre defending by the Vikings coach but Neil Kelly was pleased by the response of his charges.

He said: "We fumbled a few in the first half and that gifted them some points.

"But I thought our effort was there in the second half even though we didn't always play with our grey matter.

"We never thought 12 points was a winning lead.

"We made a few substitutions early on to liven the game up and I thought Phil Cantillon, Anthony Farrell and Simon Finnegan all made a difference."

The Vikings start was disastrous as full back Stuart Spruce fumbled the ball over his own line to gift the Giants a try.

When Hefin O'Hare raced the length of the field from a quickly taken 20-metre tap, Widnes fans must have feared the worst.

But Widnes hit back when Adam Hughes put winger Paul Devlin over in the corner.

Further tries from Stanley Gene and Julian Bailey seemed to put the Giants fully in charge at 22-6.

Widnes substitute Phil Cantillon had other ideas and showed tremendous pace from dummy half to score two tries in five minutes.

The Vikings would probably have settled for a 24-18 deficit but conceded a last minute converted try from full back Paul Reilly.

The second half was a far more closely fought affair and the Vikings got off to a flying start when Devlin went over for his second.

A period of stalemate ensued before Jason Demetriou levelled the scores at 30-30 with the help of a Jules O'Neill conversion. Late drop-goal attempts by both sides failed to break the deadlock.

Widnes: Spruce; Potter; Demetriou (1t); Hughes; Devlin (2t); J O'Neill (5g); Sheridan; Relf; Millard; JF O'Neill; McCurrie; Frame; Bird; Subs: Cantillon (2t); Farrell; Atcheson; Finnigan.