Widnes fall to Salford second half surge

Widnes’ losing streak has extended to eight games after going down 18-12 in an arm wrestle with Salford at Magic Weekend.

The Vikings took a 12-4 lead into the break but the Red Devils crossed twice in the second half to finish with the vital win and extend Widnes’ misery.

Widnes last victory came against Wigan before Easter.

Daniel Vidot broke the deadlock after just three minutes when he crashed over out wide. It was the winger’s first try for Salford in his third appearance for the club.

But five minutes later and Widnes were even when Rhys Hanbury dummied and scored, after a nice backline move.

Both teams had chances in the rest of the half but poor handling let them down. It became a scrappy contest.

Hanbury had a second try disallowed for obstruction. Stefan Marsh also went close to grabbing a try, as the Vikings had the better of the chances.

In the 31st minute Chris Bridge crossed for Widnes’ second four-pointer. Hanbury’s miss left the Vikings 10-4 in front.

A penalty with five minutres left in the first half made it 12-4 to Widnes.

Salford went close to scoring twice early in the second half but on both occasions Marsh, first with a hand on the ball and second with a brilliant tackle, thwarted proceedings.

But the Red Devils kept plugging away and an overlap on the left helped put Carney over in the corner in the 54th minute. Gareth O’Brien converted and it was 12-10.

Vidot grabbed his second try of the day 12 minutes later, the green light given after review by the video referee aftter a contested high bomb. Suddenly, Salford had a 16-12 lead with just over 10 minutes left in the match.

Corey Thompson went close to scoring after Chris Bridge‘s flick pass but couldn’t hold on to the ball.

With the seconds ticking down O’Brien slotted a penalty to wrap the victory up.