A VIRTUOSO performance by captain Kevin Brown saw Widnes thrash Salford Red Devils 38-16 at the Magic Weekend in Newcastle.

Brown crossed for a personal hat-trick was the engineer-in-chief for all the Vikings attacking moves as they outscored their opponents seven tries to three.

Widnes coach Denis Betts made just one change from the side that beat Wakefield 30-18 six days earlier with Brown slotting back in at stand-off and Aaron Heremaia dropping to the bench in place of Phil Joseph.

The Vikings enjoyed the better of things territorially in the opening ten minutes but were then caught with a sucker punch.

Ben Jones-Bishop made ground up the left for the Red Devils and when he tossed the ball inside he found Junior S'au who handed on for Cory Paterson to touch down.

Widnes hit back almost immediately when the ball was moved wide and Brown's flat pass created enough space for Patrick Ah Van to crash over to equalise the scores.

Salford were becoming their own worst enemy in terms of errors and on 19 minutes the Vikings again took advantage of some easy field-position when Danny Galea forced his way over close to the play-the-ball. Jack Owens conversion made it 10-4.

The pressure on the Salford line was now relentless and it was no surprise when Widnes scored again, this time from a planned move which saw Heramaia's drop off put Ah Van in for his second try.

Willie Isa and Rhys Hanbury combined on a long break into Salford territory but this time the Red Devils defence was up to the task.

It was brief respite however and the next Widnes try came on the half hour when Brown sold a trademark dummy to ghost under the posts making it 20-4.

A minute before half-time things got even bleaker for Iestyn Harris' men when prop Darrell Griffin was dismissed by referee James Child for a reckless high shot on Matt Whitley.

It didn't take long for the Vikings to add to their tally after the break against their short-handed opponents.

An Isa break up the middle set up the position allowing Brown to ghost over for a six-pointer from the next play with the Red Devils defence all at sea.

Salford pulled six points back when winger Greg Johnson slid over after Widnes had failed to deal with bomb.

For a while the Vikings seemed happy to play out their sets but a mis-communication between Isa and Whitley allowed Jones-Bishop to score an opportunist try and it looked like a Salford comeback might be possible.

Widnes and Brown in particular stepped up a gear.

The inspirational skipper sent Hanbury clear and was on hand to take Lloyd White's pass to register his hat-trick and make it 32-16.

Brown then showed his prowess on defence by smashing Johnson into touch, earning the appluase of his coach up in the stands.

On 69 minutes the overstretched Salford defence could do nothing to prevent Stefan Marsh sliding over in the right corner with Owens adding a superb touchline goal to complete the scoring.

The sin-binning of Cameron Phelps and Josh Griffin for a late skirmish was a mere distraction.

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

Salford: Evalds; Jones-Bishop, S'au, J Griffin, Johnson; Fages, Hauraki; D Griffin, J Walne, Taylor, Hansen, Paterson, G Griffin. Subs: Morley, Hood, Walton, Forster.

Half-Time: 20-4.

Referee: J Child.