Widnes shock league-leading Leeds Rhinos with 38-24 victory
Last Updated: 10/05/15 7:42pm
Leeds Rhinos suffered a shock 38-24 First Utility Super League loss to Widnes on Sunday.
Widnes notched up seven tries for their first win over Leeds in 12 attempts, with their last win coming in 2003.
Early in the second half Leeds had fought back from being 28-14 down make it a four-point game, before Chris Dean’s try eight minutes from the end ended their hopes of a win.
After a strong start Vikings took the lead as Chris Clarkson – playing for the Vikings on loan from Leeds – took a pass from Kevin Brown for an easy score.
Leeds hit back after eight minutes when Rhys Hanbury spilled a Danny McGuire kick, giving and opportunity to Stevie Ward to cross. With both kicks missed, it was 4-4.
The Rhinos took the lead when McGuire's kick landed favourably for the Moon, who collected the ball and dotted down.
That try and conversion sparked a Widnes fightback. Stefan Marsh muscled over first and Owens made amends for his earlier miss by slotting the touchline conversion to make it 10-10.
The Vikings almost scored again but Phil Joseph dropped the ball close to the line. The Rhinos were then caught off guard when there was a blatant high tackle by Paul Aiton on Joe Mellor. The players were waiting for the referee’s whistle, but Mellor sprinted for a try.
Kallum Watkins then crossed for Leeds to make it a two-point game.
Widnes went further ahead through tries from Danny Galea and Manase Manuokafoa, who crashed over from close range after another Widnes penalty.
Leeds fought their way back into it with a second Watkins try, while Jimmy Keinhorst received the ball from McGuire at the close of the third quarter, with Sutcliffe's kick closing the deficit to four points.
Dean then forced his way over eight minutes from time, with Owens adding the conversion to make it 34-24 before Heremaia crossed for a seventh try two minutes from time to make sure of the result.