Widnes Vikings Wheelchair    80        Swinton Lions Wheelchair    18

Alan Dixon at Liverpool John Moores University

The Lions put up a strong performance against a Vikings side that are pushing for the top spot in the league. The Vikings were made to work hard for their points.

It was a dream start for the Lions. Widnes’s short kick off went straight to Dan Robinson who had a clear run to the line to score under the posts with ten seconds gone on the clock. He converted his own try. The Vikings were soon on the attack. Quick hands by Kieran Lacey and Will McClymont sent Declan Ryan away down the wing. Andy Unwin got across to tackle him short of the line. Widnes continued to attack the Lions line but good defence prevented them from scoring. The Lions went back on the attack from deep in their own half. A Dan Robinson kick was taken by Will McClymont in his own in goal area. A Jordan Parker tackle prevented him from getting  into the field of play. From the drop out, the Lions attacked the Widnes line. A loose pass allowed Widnes to recover the ball. Will McClymont broke through the Lions defence. His pass sent Alex Howe in to score under the posts. The conversion was missed. Three minutes later, the Vikings were penalised for not tagging up. Dan Robinson kicked the penalty to extend their lead to 8-4. From the restart, quick hands by Dan Robinson and Jordan Parker sent Robin Cronshaw away down the wing. The Vikings cover defence stopped him short of the line. The Vikings went back on the attack with a good run by Alex Howe who was tackled short of the line. The ball was moved across to Will McClymont who handed it on to Kieran Lacey who sent Alex Howe through a gap to score. Will McClymont hit the post with his conversion attempt. From the restart, Alex Howe broke through the Lions defence. His pass out to Declan Ryan was knocked down by Robin Cronshaw. Declan Ryan won the race to the ball to score. Alex Howe converted. The Vikings scored again from the restart when Kieran Lacey broke the Lions defence to score under the posts. Alex Howe converted.

A Vikings forward pass allowed the Lions to go back on the attack. Robin Cronshaw and Jordan Parker were both tackled short of the line. The ball was moved across the field but the final pass could not be taken. This allowed the Vikings to go back on the attack. Alex Howe broke through the Lions defence. Andy Unwin tackled him in the Lions half of the field. The ball was moved across to Kieran Lacey who was tackled short of the line. A loose pass to Alex Howe sent them back towards their own line and he was forced to kick into the in goal. The ball went dead. The Lions went back on the attack but were penalised for not tagging up. Quick passing by Alex Howe and Kieran Lacey sent Andrew Holland away down the wing. A Dan Robinson tackle prevented him from scoring. Kieran Lacey took the ball up before passing it back out to Andrew Holland to score. Alex Howe converted. The Lions went back on the attack. Robin Cronshaw and Elina Parker were both tackled short of the line. The ball was moved across to Dan Robinson whose one-two with Jordan Parker sent him in under the posts to score. He converted his own try. The Lions next attack ended with them being penalised for an incorrect play the ball. The Widnes  kick for touch put them close to the Lions line. The ball was moved across to Alex Howe who broke through the Lions defence to score. He converted his own try. The Lions restart went dead. From the tap restart, Alex Howe went on a run. His pass to Kieran Lacey allowed him to go half the length of the pitch to score under the posts. Will McClymont converted. The Lions recovered the restart. Robin Cronshaw was tackled short of the line. The ball was moved across to Jordan Parker whose short pass sent Dan Robinson close to the line. He passed the ball back to Jordan Parker who sent Elina Parker in at the corner. Dan Robinson was unable to convert.

The Lions went back on the attack at the start of the second half. Runs by Andy Unwin, Dan Robinson and Jordan Parker got them close to the line. The ball was moved across to Dan Robinson who went over to score. The try was disallowed because he had a tag missing. From the restart, Kieran Lacey broke through the Lions defence to go over half the length of the pitch to score under the posts. Will McClymont missed the conversion. The Lions went back on the attack but were penalised for obstruction. From the penalty, Alex Howe and Kieran Lacey combined to send Andrew Holland away down the wing. His pass back inside sent Kieran Lacey in to score. The conversion attempt was missed. Widnes went back on the attack but, a pass from Alex Howe to Kieran Lacey was intercepted by Robin Cronshaw. Jordan Parker drove the ball up before passing it on to Andy Unwin and Dan Robinson whose pass out wide sent Elina Parker in at the corner. The try was disallowed as she was deemed to have been tackled short of the line. A loose pass then gave possession back to the Vikings.

Kieran Lacey broke away down the wing. A last ditch tackle by Jordan Parker prevented him from scoring. The ball was moved across to Alex Howe who was tackled short. The ball was then passed back to Kieran Lacey who scored by the posts. Alex Howe converted. The scored again from the restart. Kieran Lacey and Pete O’Reilly got the ball to Alex Howe who went around the outside of the Lions defence to score. Will McClymont converted. The Vikings continued to attack from the restart. Kieran Lacey sent Stephen Roberts on a run down the wing. Quick hands by Will McClymont and Kieran Lacey allowed Alex Howe to send Pete O’Reilly on a run to the corner. A good tackle by Jordan Parker prevented him from scoring. The ball was moved back to Alex Howe who sent Will McClymont in under the posts. He was unable to convert his own try. Six minutes later, the Vikings scored again. Pete O’Reilly and Will McClymont sent Alex Howe through the Lions defence to score under the posts. He converted his own try. From the restart they scored again. A kick downfield by Kieran Lacey was collected by Will McClymont to score. Alex Howe missed the conversion. From the restart, Luke Edwards and Will McClymont sent the Vikings on their next attack. Kieran Lacey broke through the Lions defence to score. Will McClymont missed the conversion. From the restart, the ball was moved out to Will McClymont who broke through the Lions defence to go half the length of the field to score. Kieran Lacey missed the conversion.

Teams:

Widnes Vikings Wheelchair: Declan Ryan, Alex Howe, Kieran Lacey, Will McClymont, Andrew Holland. Subs: Luke Edwards, Pete O’Reilly, Stephen Roberts.

Tries: Howe (8,13,33,64,73), Ryan (15), Lacey (17,35,47,51,61,77), Holland (25), McClymont (67,76,79)

Goals: Howe 6, McClymont 2

Swinton Lions Wheelchair: Andy Unwin, Elina Parker, Dan Robinson, Jordan Parker, Robin Cronshaw. Subs: Andy Ainley, Duncan Clarke, Ian Cronshaw.