Gaskell's gone in for a very important try.

Another try for us. Meli, I think.
According to Big Ray, Saints have looked 100% better since we had a few fisty cuffs following a high tackle on wello.

Will the fact Widnes had 11 players on the field have had a factor too?

Very possibly. Jon Clarke got sin binned, but I don't know who else.

*edit* apparently Ben Cross got sent off.

Ben Cross got sent off and as you said, Clarke binned. Sounds like a sloppy game spoilt by Childs. Game won for your boys

We gave you a real good game today and it looked like one score either way would clinch it for a while. The turning point being the sending off and sin bin. Well done on your win.

Child's was awful and never gave much to Widnes today.Meli was the last one to touch the ball into touch and gave to Saints.Lots of lieing on and high shots by Saints.Blinking linesmen must have seen them.

We was rubbish again. If it wasn't for them going down to 11 men, we would have lost the game.

IMO we look very poor and unfit.

It looked like two fairly solid yet inspirational teams today. Them going down to 11 did have a major hand in us winning, we still struggled when they did.

I think Widnes are a good shout for the play offs this year, but we do have issues.

The try for Meli was fed by Lomax. Our two halves grew in confidence in the second half but that might have been something to do with the fact that the rest of the team actually started playing after the fisticuffs (for which Jon Wilkin was extremely lucky not to have also been shown a yellow - he should start playing and stop fighting).

Mind you, that didn't stop TP from dropping the ball twice, once right near the line to give Widnes an easy option for a try.

Well done to Gaskell, not only did he score half our points but his kicking in the second half was good; and also to Makinson whose repeated try saving tackles in the last five minutes made sure our win was secure.

It was a dire match to watch live. Unless we get some forwards with size and determination we are not going to win many games.

Lomax missed most of the second half didn't he? When he came back on they were a man down and there was more space.

Our backs looked clueless. A lot of head scratching was going on. Also its quick to blame the players for being lazy/predicable/un interested. However, does anyone else suspect they may be playing under orders. I suspect that come april they will start to turn it on...

Lomax was

I have no complaints at all re the pack today. I thought they muscled up quite well.
Joe Greenwood was immense when he came on. Made good yards with ball in hand even with three Widnes tacklers on him, and also wasnt afraid to put it about in defence. Did one absolute bellringer in the second half.

Thought the pack controlled the ruck area well, with some excellent wrestling technique reminiscent of Wigan.

The main issues were in our lack of creativity and pace. Saints game plan in attack was to do five drives then kick it in the corner and hope Widnes then made a mistake.
Something else we did which is useless with Wellens at fullback, is to use him on the arc round linking into the backline. Now this is fine if you have a quick agile fullback, but when you have an ageing and slowing fullback like Wello it just kills the play stone dead. Two or three times in the first half Saints had worked space for Meli, only for this to be squandered due to Wello getting the ball, which slowed the attacking line right down, and allowed Widnes to scramble across. Wello is best used coming through the middle off the shoulder of a forward. He should be kept well away from the three quarter line.

Thought Hohoia went well at hooker. his kicking game in particular was top notch.

Other negatives. The injuries to players eg Lance and Perry, along with another poor showing from Willie Manu.

Just got back from the game, another poor performance unfortunetly.

The forwards were much improved, and lade a decent platform, but the lack of speed and quality in the halves was evident today, and will cost us big time against the so called "top sides"

First half we dominated possession and field position (thanks to a series of penalties), but the lack of direction in the halves was frightning. I honestly can't remember Lomax and Gaskell combining on more than three occasions, and even then, the passing slow and precise.

Cross's sending off for the "tackle" on Wellens - who ran his blood to water today, was definitely the correct decision, and I honestly couldn't see us winning the game without them going down to 11 men.

Manu was awful again, and his errors could have cost us today.

Until we sign a natural, quality 7, we are going to continue to struggle, and we lacked serious pace in the key positions without Robes. Their were positives, Greenwood looked good when he came on, carried the ball forward often and effectively, and Flanagan had another decent game.

Still, a hard fought 2 points against a fired up Widnes side, and a much needed win.