Widnes Albion 10 Haydock 8

TWO hard-earned points for the Albion against a very physical Haydock team.

The Albion had to defend for long periods and never touched the ball in the first 10 minutes during which Haydock took the lead with a penalty.

A good run from Barry Kingsley took play downfield where Gary Richardson laid off an inside pass to Paul Davies who scored wide out. A penalty by Richardson opened up a 6-2 lead.

There then followed some tough tackling with Craig Wood and Andy Hibbert leading the way.

Again the Albion pressed and a quick tap saw the ball passed along the line for winger Kev Buck to go over for a 10-2 interval lead.

In the second half neither side were able to break the stalemate, though Albion looked the most likely, being tackled just short on several occasions.

Haydock reduced the arrears to two points with a converted try after the play-the-ball and Andy Benson proved a handful in the centre.

But Albion kept going forward aided by Geoff Jackson, Kev Blythin and a welcome return for Gary Jones keeping Haydock back in their own half for the last few minutes.