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Widnes 38 London 30: Cameron Phelps scores vital try to help win 11-try thriller

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Widnes 38 London 30: Phelps scores vital try to help win 11-try thriller

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UPDATED:

16:21 GMT, 25 March 2012

London are still seeking their first first away win of the season after Widnes moved out of the Super League basement following an 11-try spectacular.

Lloyd White notched two tries for Widnes who were level 30-30 until Cameron Phelps` vital try six minutes from time.

Widnes were without injured skipper Jon Clarke, vice-captain Shaun Briscoe and Anthony Mullally as well as Patrick Ah Van, Anthony Watts and Ben Kavanagh but Ben Cross, Chris Dean and Scott Moore returned.

Widness beat London 38-30

London were missing Michael Robertson and Jason Golden but Liam Colbon was back.

The Broncos made a nightmare start with Luke Dorn spilling a Gareth O'Brien kick and then conceding a penalty for White to dart over.

O'Brien, on loan from neighbours Warrington, converted and then his neat kick bounced off the post for Dean to pounce and make it 12-0 after only five minutes.

London were starved of possession until they hit back on their first raid with a strong run from Chris Bailey.

Craig Gower and Antonio Kaufusi put Dorn over with Michael Witt's conversion cutting the gap to 12-6.

Rhys Hanbury was in lively form for Widnes and he shot past Matt Cook to extend the lead after Chris Melling and Gower had been held short by resolute Vikings defence.
Widnes would have gone further ahead had Moore been able to take Hanbury's pass after another impressive burst.

The Vikings did manage to extend the lead to 18-6 at the break with an O'Brien penalty after Phelps was obstructed by Gower chasing his own kick.

London's hopes of that elusive first away win were dealt another blow almost straight from the restart when Simon Finnigan's short pass put Ben Davies over with O'Brien adding the goal to make it 24-6.

Sub Mark Bryant powered over for the Broncos second try, converted by Witt, before Cross' sin-binning proved costly for Widnes.

Cross was yellow carded for obstructing Gower with Witt dummying his way over for a converted try to cut the gap to 24-18.

The Broncos drew level after 63 minutes with Colbon squeezing over in the corner and Witt booted the touchline conversion.

White then had a try disallowed by referee Richard Silverwood before White's second try after slipping Colbon's tackle edged the Vikings ahead 30-24.

But the lead was short-lived with Tony Clubb's converted try making it 30-30 until Phelps restored the Vikings` advantage after taking Willie Isa's inside pass.

O'Brien converted and then landed a penalty when Clubb was sin-binned for a late challenge.

When Manchester City and Stoke were relegated in 1998

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Flashback: The ultimate crying game… when Manchester City and Stoke were relegated

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UPDATED:

00:02 GMT, 24 March 2012

It was the last game of the season and both sides could have stayed up depending on other results.

Even though Manchester City won 5-2, victories for Portsmouth and Port Vale meant both went down to the third tier.

1998: Stoke 2 Man City 5

STOKE: Southall, Pickering, Heath, Sigurdsson, Tweed, Keen, Forsyth, Wallace, Thorne, Lightbourne (Taaffe 57), Kavanagh.

Scorers: Thorne 62, 87.

MANCHESTER CITY:
Margetson, Edghill, Horlock, Wiekens, Symons, Vaughan, Jim Whitley
(Brannan 45), Pollock, Goater (Kinkladze 73), Dickov (Jeff Whitley 90),
Bradbury.

Scorers: Goater 32, 71, Dickov 49, Bradbury 64, Horlock 90. Booked: Edghill.

Attendance: 26,664

Going down: Georgi Kinkladze thanks the City fans after hearing the news of their relegation

Going down: Georgi Kinkladze thanks the City fans after hearing the news of their relegation

Peter Thorne scored both goals for Stoke City that day. The striker, who played more than 150 times for the club, remembers pre-match jitters and magnificent fans.

What a day! I've never been involved in anything quite like that, before or since. It was a crazy situation for everyone concerned.

Either team could have stayed up if they won and results went their way so there was everything to play for.

There was a cracking atmosphere but what I remember most was the number of times the match was stopped by the referee.

Obviously, there were loads of Manchester City fans who had sneaked among the Stoke fans and the game was halted as these lads ran out of the home end back to the visitors' section.

I'm from Manchester myself and on one occasion someone I knew growing up actually ran past me on the pitch. I kept my head down.

The last thing I wanted was for someone to shout out: 'All right, Thorney!' I can also remember Kyle Lightbourne, my strike partner, and Manchester City's Shaun Goater joking with each other in the tunnel beforehand.

They were best mates and, being from Bermuda, could probably see the funny side of the mayhem that was going on all around them.

The outcome of the day had no effect on their friendship. I remember with fondness sharing a barbecue on a beach in Bermuda shortly afterwards with them both.

To be honest, a lot of the game was a blur. If my memory serves me, I pulled one back with a header but Manchester City were too strong for us that day.

My last goal was a far-post finish but by that stage we both knew that we were going down because of results elsewhere.

That cut the atmosphere stone dead. I think it was the first season we had been at the Britannia Stadium and we ended up going down. I have to say, though, Stoke's fans were magnificent.

My final memory of the day was Georgi Kinkladze walking into the players' bar afterwards. He gave his shirt to my girlfriend. She wasn't interested in holding on to it as a keepsake and I think handed it over to a young, upset Manchester City supporter.

I'm sure it was Kinkladze's last match for them. That lad is probably dining out on that story now.

Manchester City's Jamie Pollock became the most popular man in America a few weeks later after a 'nightmare' own goal that has become a YouTube sensation…

Do I remember it Well, I remember the relegation battle, certainly – I ended it being more popular than Jesus Christ. How

Let me explain. The week before we played at the Britannia, we had been in a similarly tense struggle against QPR, who also needed points to stay up.

That day, I had my biggest nightmare in the game. I ended up scoring what was one of the worst own goals of all time and it helped Rangers to a draw that they needed to lift themselves out of trouble. It was horrible.

Have a look for it yourself if you can find it on YouTube. It's had almost three million hits! I thought I would need to be smuggled out of Maine Road under a towel it was that bad.

Anyway, I went down as a legend at Loftus Road, even if I wasn't that popular with my own fans. So much so, in fact, that QPR's supporters hijacked an online poll of the most influential people of the last millennium that was being run in America. I beat Jesus into second place.

Of course, the weekend afterwards, we had this match at Stoke to try and make amends. If you look through that team you will see a fair few senior professionals.

I had just pitched up from Bolton and there were dozens of different players. What had happened was that managers prior to Joe Royle had brought their own players in and the club hadn't been quick to get rid of them.

It didn't make for a great team spirit. It wasn't healthy. I can't remember too much about the game apart from Joe and Willie Donachie telling us that it was still in our own hands at half-time. Whether it was, I don't know.

I did go over to collect the ball from the crowd with about 20 minutes to go and the reaction from our supporters told me that we were going down. A sad day.

Manchester City are a great club. Being captain is one of the achievements I am most proud of. This season some pals of mine entertained QPR supporters at the Riverside during Middlesbrough's match.

They mentioned my own goal and it turns out that I also won the QPR's player-of-the-year award that season, which in fairness, takes some doing as I never kicked a ball for them . . .

Brief hope: City were victors on the day, but were still relegated

Brief hope: City were victors on the day, but were still relegated

Violence: Some City fans found their way into the Stoke end

Violence: Some City fans found their way into the Stoke end

Violence: Some City fans found their way into the Stoke end

Widnes 18 Salford 38: Vikings slain by rampaging Reds

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Widnes 18 Salford 38: Vikings slain by rampaging Reds

Salford turned in a sizzling first half show to break their duck in the Stobart Super League this season and leave new boys Widnes still searching for their first win.

The Vikings – without Scott Moore, Hep Cahill and Simon Finnigan, all suspended for a breach of club discipline – trailed 32-6 at half-time and lost Ben Kavanagh and Anthony Watts through injury.

They turned in an improved second half show but stay rooted to the foot of the table.

Easy: Salford's Luke Patten grabs a try

Easy: Salford's Luke Patten grabs a try

Moore and Cahill joined the Vikings from St Helens and Crusaders in the close season and played in the club's first two defeats back in the top flight.

Finnigan, in his second stint at Widnes following spells at Salford, Bradford and Huddersfield, was a substitute in last week's 66-6 thrashing by the Giants.

The Vikings were also missing Cameron Phelps and Brent Kite, still in Australia awaiting their visas, and injured Shaun Briscoe but Anthony Watts and new skipper Jon Clarke were back.

Confident: Salford romped to victory

Confident: Salford romped to victory

Salford had Vinnie Anderson returning from illness but were missing Joel Moon, who broke his hand in the battling defeat at St Helens and Sean Gleeson.

The Reds made a flying start after Ben Cross was penalised for interference and Matty Smith sent Daniel Holdsworth over in the second minute.

Holdsworth tagged on the conversion and had a chance to fire his side further ahead but threw a wild pass to Danny Williams.

Another penalty conceded by Willie Isa proved costly for Widnes, who fell 12-0 behind when Luke Patten went over despite Smith's pass bobbing along the ground.

Powerful: Salford's Iafeta Paleaaesina impressed

Powerful: Salford's Iafeta Paleaaesina impressed

Crunch: Widnes' Patrick Ah Van gets to grips with Salford's Chris Nero

Crunch: Widnes' Patrick Ah Van gets to grips with Salford's Chris Nero

There was nothing fortuitous about the Reds' third try after 17 minutes with Danny Williams' scorching break allowing Patten to cross for his second try.

Widnes came close with Patrick Ah Van denied by Holdsworth before the winger took Frank Winterstein's clever pass to squeeze over in the corner and convert his own touchdown.

Vikings sub Kavanagh was carried off on a stretcher only five minutes after replacing Cross. He was injured when he appeared to catch his studs in the pitch fielding a kick with no Salford defender in close proximity.

Holdsworth brushed off Jon Clarke's poor tackle and booted his third conversion to stretch the lead to 22-6.

Patten, who was ripping Widnes apart alongside Holdsworth and Smith, sent Jodie Broughton over and when Watts was sin-binned for dissent the Reds took advantage of the extra man for youngster Gareth Owen to nip over from dummy half and stretch the interval advantage to 32-6.

There was no stopping Iafeta Paleaaesina who charged over from Owen's pass early in the second half when Widnes were still down to 12 men.

Watts returned from the sin-bin but went off almost immediately with a leg injury.

Ah Van gave the Widnes fans something to cheer by shrugging off Patten to grab his second try and then land the conversion off the touchline before Paddy Flynn's effort three minutes from time.