WIDNES continued their push for the play-offs in Co-Operative National League One with a comfortable 40-0 victory over Dewsbury Rams at Stobart Stadium Halton.

Seven tries and a complete shutout of the opposition was just the tonic the club and the fans needed in the wake of the controversial decision not to award the Vikings a Super League licence for 2009.

Chairman Steve O'Connor and his backroom staff received a standing ovation when they came onto the pitch to address the crowd at half-time and thankfully the players didn't let anybody down either.

Widnes were on the front foot straight from the off against the division's basement dwellers and winger Dean Gaskell opened the scoring after just two minutes, latching on to John Duffy's cut-out pass.

Outstanding prop forward Iain Morrison was next on the scoresheet when he hit a flat pass from dummy-half Bob Beswick and on 26 minutes substitute Richard Fletcher crashed in for a copycat close range try.

Stephen Tyrer converted all three scores and was on target again after touching down himself from Matty Smith's crossfield kick.

The Rams were noticeably wilting in the sweltering heat and it came as no surprise when they conceded again just before the interval.

Lee Paterson made the initial inroads before offloading to Tyrer who put left winger Paddy Flynn over to make it 28-0 at half-time.

The anticipated second half points-fest never materialised as the Yorkshire side showed more resolve in defence and the Vikings struggled to find the right combinations in attack.

It took until the 56th minute for Widnes to add to their tally when Duffy's half-break and offload was scooped up by prop Jim Gannon who dived in at the foot of the posts.

Tyrer added the extras but what the game was crying out for was a length-of-the-field score.

Step forward Gavin Dodd.

Taking a quick 20 metre tap, Dodd raced up the right hand side of the field narrowly avoiiding a couple of apparent attempts at decapitation.

Changing tack he avoided several more tackles as he entered Rams' territitory before finally shrugging off the last-ditch effort of Dewsbury winger Austin Buchanan to register an amazing solo touchdown.

With Tyrer once more goaling, it was a nice way to finish a traumatic week for the Vikings and their fans.

Widnes: Hardman; Gaskell (1t), Tyrer (1t,6g), Dean, Flynn (1t); Duffy, Smith; Morrison (1t), Beswick, gannon (1t), Strong, Noone, Paterson. Subs: Dodd (1t), Fletcher (1t), Morton, Ostick.

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