CHRISTMAS came early for Widnes as they claimed the derby bragging rights at Walton Lea with a towering second half showing at Warrington.

The Wids powered away in the last hour of the match to chalk up a 43-13 points triumph.

It was quite a transformation for Wids, who lost the corresponding home fixture 27-14 earlier this season.

And this one did not start great and they were off the pace during the opening 20 minutes as the home side threw everything at their opponents.

But despite Warrington’s dominance, they only had two penalty goals from scrum half Pat Roberts to show for their efforts.

Widnes got their noses in front on the half hour when Mike Garrity crashed over for a converted try, before a double whammy on the stroke of half time saw them add two quick fire tries from Chris Atkin and Matty Smith which gave them a 17-6 lead.

The visitors lost a player into the sin–bin right at the start of the second half, and Warrington made them pay as Roberts crossed for a try which he converted himself, but Widnes responded immediately as Chris Atkin scored his second try.

After that, there was only one team in it with Widnes’ backs in sparkling form with their slick handling and determined running.

The Wids added further tries from Dave Welsh, and two from Paul O’Connor to round off a convincing victory.