Widnes 34 Barrow 18

VIKINGS stormed to victory at Blackpool – becoming the first team to put a tick on their Super League licence application in the process.

It was a thrilling, incident packed game watched by a passionate 8,720 crowd.

Although Barrow,, who have beaten Widnes twice already this term were game, this Widnes outfit is a different one since those last encounters.

They made it clear that apart from pace and skill, they could also fight fire with fire if need be.

With a lot at stake, this Northern Rail Cup Final was a ‘no backward steps’ affair.

A stormy opening eight minutes was littered with flare-ups and high shots.

Both sides gave as good as they got but the referee finally lost patience when Jim Gannon slugged opposite number Brett McDermott and both were sin-binned in the subsequent melee.

Barrow were awarded the penalty from that incident, which Darren Holt converted.

Vikings hit back and wonderful handling by stand off Anthony Thackeray, whose magnificent reverse pass was met with the perfect angle run from Richard Fletcher for the touchdown. Craig Hall goaled to give the Vikings a 6-2 lead.

The Cumbrians then enjoyed a great spell of pressure with grubbers being forced over the dead ball line, firstly by Kevin Penny and then on the other wing by Dean Gaskell.

The pressure finally took its toll though when the strong running Zeb Luisi powered through a weak tackle to touch down. Holt’s goal nudged Barrow two points ahead and they looked confident.

But Vikings posted an immediate and ruthless response.

Substitute John Duffy found a gap to go from dummy half and forced his way through. Hall’s goal made it 12-8 and that lead was added to with a spectacular score from Penny.

The flying wing raced on to a kick to the corner, managing to ground it just before the dead ball line.

The three minutes before the break Penny again flew in at the corner when he collected Hall’s flicked pass after good build up work from Webster.

Hall’s goal gave the Vikings a solid, but not unassailable, 22-8 lead at the break.

Widnes had the first scoring opportunity in the second half, when after four minutes Thackeray’s kick to the right was palmed back but Toa Kohe Love could not ground it properly and was not given by the video referee.

Both sides took it in turns with the ball, with no side really dominant. Barrow needed to score first to make a game of it and duly did when swify hands across the line culminated in wing James Nixon cutting inside his opposite number Dean Gaskell for the touchdown.

However Vikings again posted an immediate response to again knock the wind out of the Barrow sails.

On loan prop Steve Pickersgill’s strong run was halted on the line, but the Vikings continued to press. A clever change in direction from Webster resulted in Kohe Love slicing through with great determination to score. Hall again goaled, giving Vikings a 28-12 lead going into the last quarter.

Barrow did not give up and a bullocking run to the line from Nathan Mossop was only halted on the line by a brave double tackle from the industrious Iain Morrison and Gaskell.

Barrow kept at them though and an innocuous looking chip over the top was fumbled on the line allowing substitute Scott Kaighan to grab the simplest of tries. Holt’s conversion cut the deficit to 10 points with eight minutes left on the clock.

Hard working Gannon nearly got a four-point reward for his afternoon’s endeavour when he rumbled over, but the video ref ruled a double movement.

However, a lost Barrow ball from the restart put Vikings back on the attack and Richard Varkulis put the icing on the cake with another try goaled by Hall in the last minute. Widnes: Dodd; Gaskell, Kohe Love, Hall, Penny; Thackeray, Webster; Pickersgill, Smith, Gannon, Varkulis, Fletcher, Morrison. Subs: Duffy, Doran, Hartley, Kavanagh.

Barrow: Broadbent; Larkin, Bauer, Harrison, Nixon; Finch, Holt; McDermott, Ellis, Bracek, Ostler, Noone, Luisi. Subs: Young, Butler, Mossop, Kaighan.