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Saints defend Karalius Cup in Stobart thriller

Tuesday 19th January 2010

 

Widnes Vikings 26

St Helens 42

 

WIDNES Vikings put in a valiant effort to secure their first ever Karalius Cup victory but they were undone by a very talented and well drilled St Helens outfit who just had the edge on the night.

Widnes boss Paul Cullen certainly was encouraged by what he saw as his players, who hadn't played for some months, stepped up to the mark and matched Saints for large parts of the match before the Super League club took a strangle hold on the game late on.

He said: "I was very happy with what I saw out there. The players had forgotten what the Stobart pitch looked like until this evening as the weather disruption had really hampered our preparation.

"The main thing was the players got some quality game time and got out on the pitch. The likes of Dean Thompson has come in for Toa Kohe-Love on the last minute and he has gone over for two tries and he took them well. Shane Grady has also done well.

"It was a good hit out for us and we will take that into the Salford game on Sunday and build from there."

The Vikings team sheet had a very different look to the one that was knocked out of the Co-operative Play-Off's last season by Featherstone and on the face of their performance tonight they have the potential to possibly go one further.

Even though Saints steam rollered their way to a 22 point advantage after 18 minutes through some well worked scores from Gary Wheeler, Jamie Foster, Sia Soliola and Bryn Hargreaves, the Vikings kept persevering; completing sets and continuing a big collective effort in defence and they were eventually rewarded with two quick fire tries from centre Thompson.

Thompson, who was drafted into the starting line up with only minutes  until kick-off time for Toa Kohe-Love who pulled up with a hamstring injury during the warm up, seized the opportunity with both hands and he certainly took the Saints defence by surprise with a excellent double.

Thompson's first effort came after some good play from the Widnes half-backs and through their first real attack blossomed a four pointer which was well received by the crowd in the South stand.

Shane Grady, who has made a claim for kicking responsibilities this season, landed the conversion from the touch line.

Minutes later Widnes and Thompson were in again as their confidence began to grow. Saints began to make some uncharacteristic errors and Cullen's men made the visitors pay. A simple drop ball from Saints gave Widnes prime field position and a superb move from the base of the scrum led to Thompson sprinting over.

Grady added the extras.

The centre was asked to take another shot at goal just before the break as the Vikings recorded the best try of the game. A classy break from Thackeray left Saints' defenders floundering and some great inter-passing with Danny Hulme soon followed and sure enough the Vikings were over again.

Widnes were pleased with their 18-26 effort at the break and they left off were they started immediately after the restart as Matt Strong crashed over.

Wheeler hit back for Saints and were on the scoresheet again through Chris Dean as the Vikings switched off in defence. Matt Gardner replied for Widnes, pouncing on a deft Thackeray stab through, to keep in touch.

Widnes blew a chance to get within six points as they looked to penetrate the Saints line out wide but rustiness in their ball handling let them down.

Ellis had the final word for Saints, capping off a fine display at seven.

Saints Head coach Mick Potter was full of admiration for the Vikings.

He said: "I think Widnes have got some real players in there who can really make a impact on the Championship next season. From what I seen out there James Webster could still play Super League and with Mark Smith leading them around the park they have a leader. The forwards are pretty solid too, so I think Widnes look in decent shape ahead of the season."

 

Widnes Vikings

 

1 James Ford

2 Danny Crompton

22 Dean Thompson

15 Shane Grady

19 Matt Gardner

6 Anthony Thackeray

7 James Webster

8 Steve Pickersgill

9 Mark Smith

10 Jim Gannon

12 Dave Allen

11 Lee Doran

13 Chris Gerrard

 

14 Thomas Coyle

18 Scott Yates

21 Matt Strong

17 Ben Kavanagh

23 Dave Houghton

3 Jack Smith

24 Danny Hulme

 

St Helens

 

1 Jonny Lomax

2 Jamie Foster

3 Chris Dean

4 Sia Soliola

5 Tom Armstrong

6 Gary Wheller

7 Jamie Ellsi

8 Maurie Faasavalou

9 Kieron Cunningham

10 Bryn Hargreaves

11 Andrew Dixon

12 Chris Flannery

13 Paul Clough

 

14 Lee Gaskell

15 Sean Magennis

16 Jacob Emmitt

17 Matty Ashurst

18 Jack Bradbury

19 Thomas Bradbury

20 Scott Moore

21 Carl Foster

22 Warren Goodman

 

Widnes Tries:

Thompson 26, 30, Thackeray 39, Strong 42, Gardner 60*

Goals:

 

Grady 3

 

St Helens Tries:

Wheeler 6, 44, Foster 12, Hargreaves 16, Soliola 18, Armstrong 36, Dean 53,Ellis 79

 

Goals:

 

Foster 5

 

HT: 18-26

ATT: 2034

Ref: Ben Thaler

Pens: 6-4 Widnes