Two moments of first half madness and one moment of second half skill cost
Hornets this pulsating game at the Autoquest Stadium.
In the earliest exchanges, Hornets had the upper hand, playing Widnes in their own half and looking comfortably on top of their game. But alarm bells rang after 7 minutes. Two consecutive penalties took Widnes deep into Hornets territory. A pass from Cromptom went to ground and in the ensuing scramble, the ball found its way to Jason Dimitriou who scored wide out. Weston converted. But where Hornets had folded earlier in the season, they roled up their colective sleeves and took the game back to Widnes. On eleven minutes, a slide-rule grubber from Latham Tawhai bisected the Widnes defence and David Stephenson took advantage of Atcheson's implausibly slow reactions to touch down. Woody converted. Four minutes later, Hornets were ahead - Darren Robinson's close range sneak, Wood's conversion, Hornets supporters in rapture. Two minutes later, Woody accepted a penalty for interfering and at 14-6 Hornets were looking good for their lead. With Widnes visibly shaken and pinned in their own half, Mr Kirkpatrick (left) intervened on their behalf. Two dubious penalties recommended by the voices in his head put Widnes in good field position 20 metres from Hornets' line. Widnes took full advantage and a neat interchange between Crompton and Agar found Atcheson in the wrong place at the right time to score. Weston added the extras, but at 14-12 Hornets were still in the box seat.
Then came the two aberrations that were to take the game away from Hornets. On the half hour - and on only the fourth tackle - Wes Rogers shaped to pass to Sean Cooper. He must have been the only person in the ground not to see Andy Craig lining up the interception. Rogers passed, Craig said, "Ta very much", Calland chased gamely and we held our head in our hands as the Widnes centre ran 70 unopposed metres to plant the ball under the black dot.
But Hornets kept taking the game to Widnes. Watson probed and bustled, Berry drove the ball with conviction and some nifty footwork, Robinson battled and rattled. With the half ebbing away and the momentum back with Hornets, the ball found its way to Sculthorpe who slipped through the merest of gaps in the right centre channel. Having swallowed up 30 or so metres he attempted yet another risky pass to Cooper. Again it fell into Widnes hands and, again, they took the ball up the other end of the field, Long scoring a converted try right on the hooter.
Half time 22-14 and Hornets reeling, victims of their own inexplicable stupidity.
Hornets started the second half with real intent, driving Widnes back onto their own line. Not having learned from his first half effort, the Widnes defence stood off Robinson 20 metres from the line and he took full advantage, skirting a static Atcheson to score. Woody converted and at 22-20, the game was well and truly on. For the next 20 minutes, both sides manouevred, manipulated and moved the ball around in search of an opening. Both sides made half breaks, both sides scrambled on defence. The tension in the crowd was palpable. Then came the moment that turned the game irreversibly in Widnes' direction. 65 minutes, Widnes pinned harmlessly deep in their own half. Richard Agar took matters in his own hands and launched a quite exquisite 40-20 down field. It fell perfectly in the five feet between Marlon Billy and Paul owen, the bounce taking it into touch a yard from the Hornets line. Devastating stuff.
Not only did it put Widnes in a superb attacking position, it visibly knocked the stuffing out of Hornets. From the resulting set of six, Crompton found Long on the burst and the damage was completed. Agar converted.
But this game still had a couple of tricksy twists up its sleeve. On 70
minutes Cantillon surged trough a tiring Hornets defence and was tackled by
Billy and Owen ten metres from the line. As the two defenders climbed off the
tackle, Mr Kirkpatrick blew his whistle for a Widnes penalty and began to
talk to the two Hornets tacklers, we assumed for the holding down offence
that he'd somehow imagined. Whilst the referee was engaged in dialogue with
the two offending Hornets players, Cantillon tapped the ball to himself and
strolled through the resulting gap to plonk the ball down more in hope than
expectation. Kirkpatrick surpassed himself and gave the try, Hornets
supporters stood open mouthed in disbelief that a referee could distract two
defenders sufficiently to give an opposition player a shoo-in. A dispicable
act that capped a quite appaling performance.
With the game gone, Hornets mustered the troops for one last effort. Deep in the Widnes half, Woody ghosted through a Widnes defence that didn't really care much by now. He found Paul Owen on his inside and he slipped in to score. And that was, indeed, yer lot.
Hornets can be disappointed that 'dumb football', as Martin Hall called it on the radio afterwards, cost them so dearly at a point in the game where Widnes were struggling to establish a rhythm. Hally must also be troubled by the fact that, in the face of a referee who was actively looking for reasons to throw penalties around, we failed to be squeaky clean around the play the ball. But, mainly, we're all disappointed that we lost a game of Rugby League that we put ourselves in a position to win. Take nothing away from Widnes, they exploited every single opportunity that came their way - good sides do - and Hornets learned that the hard way.
But we live to fight again. Lovers of irony will apreciate that Oldham's extraordinary win at Leigh throws the whole playoff scenario up in the air. Widnes' reward for beating us is a trip to Hilton Park where both sides know that it's win or bust. Hornets get a home game against an improving Hull KR - tricky but not impossible. And that's where we must set our sights next. The Robins will be no pushover and Hally will be carefully preparing his charges for what will be the biggest game of quite a few careers I imagine.
For Hornets' first steps in playoff football, this is a reasonable start. The luck of the draw favours us, no doubt. Let's hope we can exploit it.