Wakefield vs Widnes match report: Denis Betts relieved to see Vikings return with hard-fought win

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 16 Widnes Vikings 24

Tempers fray during Widnes’s victory over Wakefield (Reuters)

Widnes coach Denis Betts was relieved to make a winning start after the Vikings saw off last year’s Super League wooden spoonists Wakefield 24-16 in a tempestuous game at Belle Vue yesterday.

Betts’ men enjoyed three easy wins over the Wildcats in 2015 but were made to work hard this time by Brian Smith’s new-look side, who trailed 18-4 at the break but won the second half 12-6.

“Winning is what it was all about,” Betts said. “Away from home, against a team who have given themselves a completely different look, it’s a hard place to come.

“In those conditions and with the intensity from the pre-season they’ve had, the first thing we wanted to do was win and we’ve come away with a really strong performance and lots of things to get better at.

“We had two or three opportunities to really take the game away. We’ve not got out of third gear and it’s hard to say how good we can be on attack but defensively we were really strong.”

Wakefield coach Smith, who saved the Wildcats from relegation in 2015, was also encouraged by the performance of his side, in particular, the five newcomers, Liam Finn, Ben Jones-Bishop, Anthony England, Tinirau Arona and Anthony Tupou.

“There are some obvious disappointments in the game but the pluses probably outweighed the minuses today,” he said. “Some of the things we need to fix from today’s game can be fixed.”

Hull KR head coach Chris Chester admitted he expected Josh Mantellato to miss the last-gasp touchline conversion which earned his side a 16-16 draw against Castleford in yesterday’s other game.

The Tigers were on the verge of opening their campaign with a hard-fought victory at the KC Lightstream Stadium but Mantellato went over in the corner in the dying seconds before holding his nerve with a nasty eye injury to add the extras in difficult conditions.

“I must admit as soon as we scored I said to Dane Tilse that he [Mantellato] had no chance,” Chester said. “Considering he’s only got one eye that’s open, he did a fantastic job at kicking that goal.”

Mantellato, who also scored two tries, picked up the injury after taking a stray boot to the face.

The home side were forced to come from behind on three occasions and that fighting spirit pleased Chester, who had seen his team beaten heavily by Huddersfield and their bitter rivals Hull FC in pre-season.