Widnes 0 Salford City Reds 36 (From Runcorn and Widnes World)

Widnes 0 Salford City Reds 36

1:01pm Wednesday 27th January 2010

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UNDERSTRENGTH Widnes were outgunned by Super League outfit Salford City Reds as they went down 36-0 at Stobart Stadium Halton.

The Vikings could point out they were missing seven players who may play a part when the serious stuff starts but even so they may feel their attacking cohesion was somewhat lacking.

Salford had no such problems and several Widnes old-boys made major contributions to their former team's downfall.

Indeed, the City Reds three first half tries came from ex-Vikings in the shape of Karl Fitzpatrick (2) and Stephen Tyrer.

Unfortunately for Fitzpatrick, any hopes he may have had of registering a hat-trick were ended ten minutes before the interval when he was sent-off for retaliation after being hit with a high shot by Widnes substitute Thomas Coyle.

Perhaps harshly, Coyle too received his marching orders for the original offence.

The visitors took a 16-0 lead into the break and were quickly back in scoring action on the resumption.

Substitute Ashley Gibson went over wide out before Sidlow proved too powerful for some not particularly tough defence.

Further tries came from Tyrer and Luke Adamson to make it 32-0 after 64 minutes..

Dave Allen was sin-binned with ten minutes to go for an indiscretion at the tackle which led to Salford winger Jodie Broughton registering his side's eighth and final try of the afternoon.

A match in which 27 penalties are awarded is unlikely to be much of a spectacle and in truth this one won't live long in the memory for most of those present.

With their pre-season schedule now over, Widnes will be hoping to present their fans with more attractive fare when they begin their defence of the Northern Rail Cup against Gateshead next Sunday.

Widnes: Yates; Crompton, Thompson, Grady, Gardner; Thackeray, Webster; Pickersgill, Smith, Gannon, Doran, Allen, Gerrard. Subs: Coyle, Kavanagh, Strong, Houghton, Hulme.

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