Widnes Vikings 31 Rochdale Hornets16

TO the delight of an appreciative crowd at the Auto Quest Stadium, the Vikings ended their season on a high note with a fine win over Rochdale Hornets, writes Mark Farmer.

The players seemed determined to send the fans home happy at the end of a disappointing season - and for that they deserve some credit.

Happily, Widnes managed to put the previous week's shenanigans against Leigh well behind them against a Hornets side riding high on the confidence of a big win over Swinton the same weekend.

The Vikings had the better of the opening exchanges but found themselves 0-2 down to a Deryck Fox penalty.

Mark Hewitt squared things up before Dean Cross crossed for the opening try.

It was Kyle White who made the break, crashing on to a Jim Cassidy short ball before sending Cross on a 30 metre dash to the line. Hewitt converted.

The lead should have been increased when the newly blond Jim Salisbury linked up with Peter Smith but the diminutive winger was held just short.

Several more chances went begging before, inevitably, Hornets snatched a try.

Live-wire ex-Leeds hooker, Mick Shaw, always the visitors main threat, scooted through the defence from dummy-half and rounded Salisbury to score from close-range to make it 8-6.

A Hewitt penalty for a high tackle by ex-Viking, Richie Eyres, stretched the lead to 10-6 before Widnes fell for the sucker-punch just before the interval.

Allowing Rochdale to play the ball before the defence was set up, enabled Shaw to rocket through again from dummy-half for a fine 50 metre try.

The 10-10 half-time scoreline was less than Widnes deserved.

The second period started scrappily but a Hewitt penalty nosed the Vikings in front.

On 56 minutes, a perfectly worked set move with Hewitt and O'Loughlin at the hub allowed Cross to send winger Anton Garcia in at the corner.

Hewitt's conversion, followed by a drop-goal, made it 19-10.

The visitors hit back with a converted try by full-back Mick Coult before Widnes got the killer try with five minutes left.

It was man-of-the-match, Dean Cross, who supplied the ammunition with a clever grubber-kick through the Hornet's defence which Garcia followed up to score.

The immaculate Hewitt's conversion made it 25-16.

The icing on the cake was provided by Jim Salisbury who had a fine game in attack.

With a minute left on the clock, he sliced through the Hornet's defence from a scrum on halfway and showed great pace to score under the posts - he actually started his celebrations with 20 yards to go.

Crowd and players were joined in mutual applause at the end which was good to see.

The immediate future may be unclear for the coach-less Vikings, but they can be sure that if they get their act together, the support will be there.

Widnes: Salisbury (1t), Garcia (2t), Cross (1t), Munro, Smith, Birdesye, Hewitt (7g, 1dg); Makin, Murphy, White, Cassidy, O'Neill, O'Loughlin, Subs: Wood, Doherty, Long, Hill. Attendance: 1474.

Meanwhile, Aussie centre Shane Wilson has played his last game for the Vikings after his contract expired.

Wilson, brought over from Sydney by former coach Graeme West, is to return to Australia.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.