Rugby League: Widnes Vikings 18, Wigan Warriors 42

Jan 28 2008 by Ian Cheveau, Liverpool Daily Post

HARRISON Hanson bagged himself a hat-trick of tries to give Wigan Warriors victory at Widnes Vikings but the result didn’t spoil the club’s re-launch party.

Major rebuilding work has been ongoing at Stobart Stadium Halton since Christmas and if yesterday’s performance both on and off the pitch is anything to go by, then the club will soon be hosting big guns like Wigan on a regular basis.

The Vikings were never going to be a match for Brian Noble’s Warriors, especially with Australian Test star Trent Barrett pulling the strings, but they certainly gave the former Super League champions a fight. That will put Steve McCormack’s side in good stead for the Northern Rail Cup matches against Blackpool and Leigh.

McCormack said: "We held them for 20 minutes but they got a few tries on the board which gave them the platform. But the result was completely irrelevant and I was pleased with the performance of my players against a very good Wigan side.

"We had no club 12 weeks ago and now we are playing Wigan and testing them. It’s a massive day for the club. There is a lot of work to do but it’s a starting point."

The Vikings gave an excellent account of themselves and they put the Warriors through their paces in the first quarter, but the game started to get away from them on the 20-minute mark when Wigan ran in five tries in the space of 15 minutes, after captain Sean O’Loughlin had opened the scoring early on.

Mick Higham, Trent Barrett, Hanson and Richie Mathers all crossed before Widnes got themselves on the scoresheet through Ian Morrison, who had latched onto Jim Gannon’s short ball. Tim Hartley converted and added another goal when Dean Gaskell darted over just before halt-time.

Wigan stepped up the pace in the second period and Hanson powered over for a double which effectively signalled the end of the game as a contest.

There were some fiery moments, however, and an incident was placed on report after a 26-man flare up midway through the second half. Widnes’s Gaskell and Michael McIIorum were sin-binned for fighting.

Paul Noone gave Widnes’s 4,000 fans something to shout about when he charged over from dummy half close to the end.

Widnes chairman Steve O’Connor was delighted with both the players and fans.

He said: "I am as proud as I have ever been.

"The fans came out in force and embraced what we are trying to do here and that was important. I’m also proud of the players and they gave Wigan a tough ride – they didn’t have it all their own way.

"I was jumping out of my seat like every fan was and I’ll be there with them next week and every game. It was a big day for Widnes Vikings and although we didn’t get the result the day was a huge success."