WIDNES produced a heroic effort in the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup before going down 23-20 to Leeds Rhinos at Halton Stadium.

In the end it was the hot favourites from Yorkshire who were relieved to hear the final hooter as the Vikings pressed them to the very end.

Widnes brought back Ed Chamberlain, Stefan Marsh and Jordan Johnstone with Patrick Ah Van and Danny Craven picking up injuries in the previous week’s defeat at Huddersfield and Leeds loanee Jimmy Keinhorst not allowed to play against his parent club.

Aaron Heremaia switched from the bench to the halves to partner Tom Gilmore.

Both sides took a safety first approach in the opening exchanges with set completion the order of the day.

The Vikings first real attacking foray saw Matt Whitley obstructed as he chased his own kick to the line but Leeds repelled the subsequent set.

A superb break up the middle from dummy-half Lloyd White was carried on by Charly Runciman and Rhys Hanbury.

When the latter was held down illegally in the tackle referee Mr Dolan had little option but to send Rhinos winger Ash Golding to the sin-bin.

Widnes couldn’t capitalise on their numerical advantage and instead it was Leeds who broke out and with the aid of a fortunate ricochet they worked the ball wide for winger Tom Briscoe to cross.

Ryan Ince had a try disallowed after he was deemed offside from a Gilmore kick and Widnes were hit by a sucker punch when Stevie Ward’s break and offload put ex-Viking Richie Myler under the posts to make it 10-0 on 24 minutes.

Widnes got the try their efforts deserved two minutes later when smart passing allowed Whitley to crash over to pull four points back.

White left the field with an arm injury and just before half-time, Myler popped over a one-pointer to give Leeds an 11-4 interval lead.

The Rhinos came out in determined mood for the second half and two converted tries in the first six minutes through Golding and Ward put the visitors well in control at 23-4.

Widnes again proved they weren’t ready to lie down as smart work by Johnstone saw him put Whitley over for his second try.

On 56 minutes the Vikings went in again when they kept the ball alive on last tackle and Alex Gerrard bulldozed his way across the whitewash.

Widnes made it three tries in nine minutes when a free play saw Gilmore and Hanbury combine superbly to put Runciman over with Gilmore’s goal making it 23-20 with a quarter of the game remaining.

A half-chance went begging when Runciman couldn’t hang onto a pass with an overlap in the offing.

The Vikings continued to press and with three minutes remaining Heremaia looked a certain scorer but lost the ball as he went for the line.

It was breathless stuff but in the end the clock was Widnes’s enemy and Leeds hung on - by the skin of their teeth.

Widnes: Hanbury; Ince, Chamberlain, Runciman, Ah Van; Craven, Gilmore; Gerrard, White, Burke, Whitley, Wilde, Olbison. Subs: Leuluai, Heremaia, Cahill, W Albert.

Leeds: Walker; Briscoe, Watkins, Handley, Golding; Moon, Myler; Cuthbertson, Parcell, Oledzki, Ward, Ablett. Subs: Dwyer, Ferres, Mullally, Peteru.

Half-time: 4-11 Referee: Mr G Dolan Attendance: 1,865