Widness 26 Hull FC 50: Agar complimentary as Widnes are handed taste of things to come

The Super League side ran in nine tries but were unconvincing as they claimed a place in the quarter-finals with a 50-26 success at the Halton Stadium.

Widnes rarely looked like springing a shock but were competitive throughout and trailed only by 12 points with as many minutes remaining.

Agar said: “It was mission accomplished but the first thing I should probably do is pay tribute to Widnes.

“They are not having the best of seasons by their standards in the Championship but they turned up and were very tenacious.

“Perhaps the final scoreline didn’t do them enough justice.”

Hull led from the ninth minute to the last and always had enough of an advantage as Tom Briscoe helped himself to two tries in the second half.

Richard Horne also finished with two to his name while Richard Whiting, Will Sharp, Joe Westerman, Epalahame Lauaki and Cameron Phelps also scored.

Agar added: “You can look at the points total being 50 or you can look at the overall performance.

“We probably weren’t prepared to work hard enough when we didn’t have the ball.

“Attitude-wise we were a little bit short of where we needed to be but, having said that, throughout the 80 minutes we did interject that with some really good stuff.”

The Vikings have been awarded a Super League licence next season but are currently fifth in the Championship after winning only four of nine games.

They were impressively composed on Saturday with Steve Tyrer touching down twice and Richard Varkulis and Tangi Ropati also going over after MacGraff Leuluai scored against his father James’s old club.

Widnes: Flynn, Penny, Ropati, Tyrer, Gardner, I’Anson, Coyle, Pickersgill, Lunt, Kavanagh, K. Haggerty, Leuluai, Allen. Substitutes: Varkulis, Grady, Gore, D. Sculthorpe.

Hull FC: Phelps, Sharp, Whiting, Yeaman, T. Briscoe, Turner, Horne, O’Meley, Houghton, Moa, Manu, Westerman, Tickle. Substitutes: Radford, Washbrook, Lauaki, Dowes.

Referee: R Hicks (Oldham).s