Widnes Vikings 25, Swinton Lions 10

THE Lions went down to their third successive defeat as the Vikings plundered their way to victory at the Autoquest Stadium on Sunday.

Howard Hill had a try disallowed 10 minutes from time with the score standing at 19-10. Had that been allowed to stand, the outcome may well have been different.

Widnes opened up like a whirlwind. After five minutes and some tremendous pressure on the Lions line, French international Fabien Devechi slipped through an attempted tackle by Mark Welsby and Tony Barrow for a try near the posts. Mark Hewitt's conversion made it 6-0.

Former Lion Gareth Adams then clattered Ian Watson in a superb tackle, forcing the Swinton half back to lose the ball. Hooker Phil Cantillon scooped up possession and raced 40 metres for a try between the posts. Hewitt's conversion made it 12-0 after 12 minutes. The Lions then dug their heels in and started to take the game to Widnes. Their efforts were rewarded when Welsby threw a superb dummy and rounded the defence to score by the corner flag, with Gartland kicking superbly from the touchline to make the score 12-6.

Seven minutes from the break, in a move which involved two seemingly forward passes, Chris Purcivall's try and Hewitt's conversion restored the Vikings' 12-point advantage.

Hewitt then added a drop goal to take the score on to 19-6 shortly before the break.

Two minutes after the restart, Sean Casey restored Swinton's momentum with their second try, but Gartland was wide with his conversion attempt.

The score remained at 19-10 for almost half an hour as handling errors were prominent although the strong defence displayed by both sides could explain this.

That crucial disallowed try signalled the end of the Lions' competitiveness but the touch judge seemed to take an age in making his mind up as to whether Hill had actually stepped into touch.

From the resulting scrum, Widnes went down field and Cantillon scored his second try to rub salt into the Lions' wounds. Hewitt's conversion brought up the final score.

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