Widnes Vikings 8 St Helens 21

WIDNES went down 21-8 in their final home game of the season to a Luke Walsh inspired St Helens.

It was a particularly downbeat finish for skipper Kevin Brown and winger Patrick Ah Van who were sent off following an incident three minutes from full-time.

Saints dominated the opening exchanges and opened the scoring on three minutes when winger Adam Swift broke clear from deep inside his own half and showed the Widnes defence a clean pair of heels on an 80 metre dash to the line.

Walsh converted and quickly put his team back into Widnes territory with a superb 40/20.

From the resulting pressure Swift squeezed in at the corner for his second try to make it 10-0.

A high tackle by Chris Houston enabled Walsh to add a penalty goal to his team’s total before the Vikings had launched a meaningful attack.

When they finally did exert some pressure on the opposition line, Widnes found the Saints defence in determined mood as Aaron Heremaia went close but was held up over the tryline and a Brown grubber kick was dealt with in-goal by Walsh.

The Vikings fluffed a gilt-edged chance six minutes before the break when Rhys Hanbury broke through but couldn’t find his inside support with a try beckoning.

However, just three minutes later, Denis Betts’ men finally opened their account when quick hands released Ah Van on the left flank and he brushed aside Walsh on a 20 metre run to the corner to make it 12-4 at half-time.

Early in the second half, Saints threequarter Matty Fleming dropped the ball over the Widnes line when scoring looked the easier option but he made amends when he finished off an identical move on 51 minutes to make it 16-4.

Saints looked certain to increase their lead when centre Dom Peyroux latched onto a loose Brown pass but he was roped in by Joe Mellor and lost the ball in contact.

Widnes pulled four points back when Chris Houston gathered a loose ball and handed on to Brown who showed good vision to kick the ball to the right where Vikings top try scorer Corey Thompson was on hand to touch down.

Walsh gave his side a bit of extra insurance with a drop-goal five minutes from time to make it 17-8.

Out of the blue, a fight erupted which resulted in red cards for Brown and Ah Van and sin-binning for Saints second row Joe Greenwood.

The visitors exploited their numerical advantage as Atelea Vea crashed over for the game’s final try.

Widnes: Hanbury; Thompson, Dean, Runciman, Marsh; Mellor, Brown; Burke, White, Buchanan, Whitley, Houston, Leuluai. Subs: J Chapelhow, Manuokafoa, Heremaia, Farrell.

St Helens: McDonnell; Owens, Peyroux, Fleming, Swift; Turner, Walsh; Amor, Roby, Richards, Wilkin, Greenwood, McCarthy-Scarsbrook. Subs: Walmsley, Vea, Thompson, Knowles.

Half-Time: 4-12

Referee: James Child

Attendance: 6,128