Trafford MV slip to defeat against Widnes

The game kicked off and it was MV getting the better of the early exchanges and the scoring was opened with a penalty from Pat Eccles.

Trafford extended their lead when Jamie Kingdon took a short pass and burst through the defence from 30 yards, sprinting to the line to score close to the uprights. Eccles converted to make it 10-0.

MV's Andrew Clegg then picked up a yellow card for a deliberate knock on which signalled a change in the game.

Trafford reshuffled their pack and it was not long before Widnes struck with a converted try from Tom O'Neil bringing the game to life.

It was a tight affair with both teams getting a good share of set-piece ball.

Widnes saw enough of the ball to enable them to work their way over MV's line yet again with a try from Arnie Hancock converted by Andy Owens, before an Eccles kick kept his side in touch with a well-struck penalty.

Widnes started the second half strongly, just missing out on one attempted try before Jamie Patient strolled through a huge gap in the MV defence with Owens converting and Eccles again keeping MV on their heels with another penalty.

MV centre Paul Davenport hit a good line and penetrated the visitors' defence to score and with an Eccles conversion, the home side put the game in the melting pot.

But Widnes crucially scored next to pick up the four-try bonus point as Josh Kenyon raced clear to score and Owens converted. The gap widened when Ryan Millington chipped through for Josh Paton to collect and step inside the defence to score.

With the clock running down MV were throwing all they had at Widnes.

The win proved to be out of reach but Eccles capped a great performance by scoring and converting his own try in the dying minute to secure a losing bonus point.

This weekend sees MV travel to struggling Tyldesley who, despite not yet winning a game this season, have improved their performances recently and only lost 30-22 against fourth-placed Didsbury Toc H last weekend.