ANXIOUS to get back to winning ways as soon as possible, Widnes ground out a narrow 16-14 victory to condemn South Manchester rivals Altrincham Kersal to a fifth straight reverse in North One West.
The win – and that was all it was – sets them up nicely for Saturday’s clash with Wirral, who remain unbeaten in 2013 following their win over Carlisle.
There was little to shout about in this one though, and it was the error count which dominated proceedings.
AK held the early lead with a drop goal, before in-form winger Matty Smith scored a try for Widnes.
It got better for the home side on 25 minutes, when Jonny Lowe got on the end of a long range move to extend the lead, before an injury time penalty from Nettleton made the score 10-6 to Widnes at half time.
In what was mainly, a forgettable second half, Matty Smith added two more penalties for Widnes, before another Nettleton penalty and a late try in the corner from winger Chris Stewart secured a bonus point for the losers.
