Widnes Vikings rock the leaders Leeds Rhinos with a 38-24 victory

In an entertaining game, Vikings looked comfortable at 28-14 but then had to show immense character to stop Leeds’ momentum when two tries cut their lead to four points.

But they found something to tip it back their way with Chris Dean getting the try that sealed it, with Aaron Heremaia ghosting in on the blindside to add the cherry on top.

It now leaves Catalans as the only team they have failed to beat since their return to the top flight.

Vikings started brightly and opened the scoring when year-long loanee from Leeds Chris Clarkson powered over from close range on four minutes.

The Rhinos hit back on nine minutes with a close range effort from Stevie Ward and hit the front after Vikings failed to deal with an awkward grubber for Joel Moon to score.

The nip-and-tuck nature of the game continued when Jack Owens burned off his opposite number on the right flank before turning it back inside for Stefan Marsh to cross.

Then Vikings hit the front again when Joe Mellor cashed in on the advantage after being cracked, racing 40 metres for a try with Owens’ goal making it 16-10.

However, Leeds made their last set of the half tell when Kallum Watkins sneaked in with 30 seconds to go to cut the deficit to 16-14 at the break.

Vikings showed bags of confidence at the start of the second half when twice tapping kickable penalties and scoring with Danny Galea and Manase Manuokafoa grabbing the crucial tries.

That was Vikings in the driving seat, but some daft errors like twice kicking out on the full and then being soft with their tackling and being unable to stem the Leeds offloading machine.

Watkins’ second and then another from Jimmy Keinhorst on the same right hand side threw the game back into the melting poit.

Vikings at theis stage were hanging on, but their timidity and reversion to one-man rugby contributed to the jitters.

But helped by some massive carries from the outstanding Patrick Ah Van and facing a Leeds side that was chasing the game, Vikings forced the error that got them back on the front foot.

And seven minutes from time Vikings moved the ball left for Dean to cross to tip the balance back their way.

And with the players squaring up to each other, Aaron Heremaia decided to carry on playing to go on a ghosting arc to score out wide and complete a resounding victory.

Widnes: Hanbury; Owens, Marsh, Dean, Ah Van; Brown, Mellor; Dudson, White, Gerrard, Clarkson, Galea, Isa. Subs: Heremaia, Manuokafoa, Joseph, Whitley.

Leeds: Hardaker; Watkins, Keinhorst, Moon, Handley; Sutcliffe, McGuire; Cuthbertson, Burrow, Singleton, Ward, Ablett, Delaney. Subs: Aiton, Peacock, Achurch, Walters.