WIDNES Wild met big local rivals Deeside Dragons on Saturday evening – and pulled off a super 4-2 victory.

The game got off to an uneventful start, both teams taking minor penalties. In the eighth minute Widnes took a deserved lead, Chris Preston allowing Bez Jones to fire low past Matt Compton after the netminder had blocked the first shot.

Deeside equalised in a sporadic raid, a break down the right by Lovell led to James Parsons shooting past Ruxton. The Wild lead was restored at 17.15, Tom Ratcliffe finding the bottom left corner.

The second period opened in sensational style – Widnes going 3-1 ahead at 21.57. Chris Preston was the goalscorer assisted by Ratcliffe and Hughes. Two minutes later a thunderous shot from the point by Wild’s Tom Jackson was well saved by Compton.

Some sustained attack from the Dragons led to a succession of fine saves from Greg Ruxton.

The game started to see some aggressive play and Wilds Matt Wainwright was penalised for a high hit on Dragons James Parsons at 30.55. Within a minute Dragons Michael Jones took a major 2+10 penalty for a check from behind.

After Greg Ruxton controversially flung his net off the mounts it was followed by a slash on the netminder from Simon Furnivall.

A fight ensued in centre ice and Furnivall and Wilds Kieron Strangeway went to the penalty box.

The third period saw Ross Kennedy fire in a shot from the left and it beat Greg Ruxton at 47.40 to put the Dragons just a goal behind. Immediately tempers boiled over and Dan Bracegirdle received 2+2+2 and Chris Jones for Dragons 2+2. Bracegirdle was adjudged to have prompted the incident with a cross check.

When Dragons took a minor penalty Wild were able to find space and Lee Pollitt crashed home a fourth goal at 56.09. His rising shot flashed high into the net, prompting huge crowd celebrations. Sustained Widnes pressure saw a great bit of skill from Bobby Caunce.

He managed to back stick the puck towards the top corner but Compton made a fine reaction save. A high sticking incident at 56.48 saw Deeside’s Marc Lovell strike out but Bez Hughes was sent to the box for high sticking the Dragons forward.

This was a real crowd pleasing result – earning bragging rights in the local derby. Sheffield youngster Tom Barry deservedly took the MVP for Wild.

The match watched by the biggest crowd of the season, saw the Wild extend their unbeaten run to four games.

They face a really tough challenge at the weekend, travelling to in form Sheffield Senators on Saturday (7.30pm) and then to table topping Solihull Barons( 6pm) on Sunday.