Widnes Vikings 27 Dewsbury Rams 26: Late drama stuns Dewsbury as Widnes battle back to take win

GALLANT Dewsbury were denied at the last as they went down 27-26 to Widnes Vikings at Stobart Stadium Halton.

The Rams looked to have taken the spoils when centre Alex Bretherton followed up a Pat Walker kick to touch down and give his side a 26-23 lead with just four minutes remaining.

Widnes, though, had other ideas. They chanced their arm with a short kick-off and came up with possession through Matt Gardner. From the resulting pressure a long ball from scrum-half Thomas Coyle found Shane Grady and he stretched over in the corner.

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Even then the drama wasn't over. The Rams secured the ball from their own short kick-off and managed to keep it alive even after the hooter had sounded.

Unfortunately, one desperate pass too many saw the ball end up in the hands of Vikings substitute Kurt Haggerty who ran 50 metres before being dragged down inches short.

It was a more than deserved bonus point for Warren Jowitt's men who had the better of things in the opening period.

Tries from Matthew Fox and Walker, with one conversion from Dominic Brambani, helped give the Rams a 10-6 lead at the break.

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Widnes looked to have taken a stanglehold on the game though with three unanswered second half tries from Anthony Thackeray, Chris Gerrard and Mark Smith augmented by a Coyle drop-goal which made it 23-10.

Brambani and Fox crossed to get Dewsbury right back in it and Bretherton's score looked to have sealed a dramatic win.

Unfortunately for Rams fans, the drama wasn't over.

Widnes: Flynn; Varkulis, Gardner, Grady, Gaskell; Thackeray, Coyle; Gannon, Netherton, Davies, K Haggerty, Allen, Doran. Substitutes: Smith, Kavanagh, Gerrard, Heckenberg.

Dewsbury: Lingard; Powell, Fox, Bretherton, Craven; Walker, Brambani; Hirst, Blake; Lockwood, Spicer, Robinson, Barber. Substitutes: Emmett, Stenchion, England, Tonks.

Referee: Mr G Hewer.

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