With most of the other teams in the division enjoying a well earned rest, Widnes took centre stage in this re-arranged North One West fixture at Powderhouse Lane.
The game was having to be re-played, after the original fixture was abandoned after 59 minutes following a serious neck injury sustained by a Vale player.
In short, this was a vital game for both sides, with Vale in the middle of a dismal six match losing run, and Widnes having lost two of their first three games in 2015.
A whirlwind start by Vale saw the home side comfortably in the box seat as they scored two converted tries to led 14 – nil after just ten minutes.
Slowly, though, Widnes began to get to grips with the job in hand, and a try from Johnny Leather after 15 minutes finally got them moving.
Another try in injury time from Mike Garrity meant that it was everything to play for in the second half.
Vale edged further away on the hour mark when scrum half Swarbrick kicked a penalty, but after that they appeared to suffer from a crisis of confidence as Widnes roared back into the contest to square things up with a try from Paul O’Connor and conversion from Jon Hetherington.
Widnes turned the screw on 72 minutes to finally take the lead as Andy O’Neill crashed in, before a calamitous error in defence allowed Johnny Leather to score his second try and wrap up a terrific win for the visitors.
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