WIDS clinched an historic win to finally get their hands on a championship trophy after 80 years of rugby union, writes RON KING.

The Wids cannot be caught at the top of the South Lancs/Cheshire League One.

Coach Andy Ruane has rallied his players and pushed them to finish one place better than last season and gain automatic promotion.

The Heath Road outfit needed just one point from its remaining two fixtures but this was a difficult fixture as Anselmians are fighting relegation.

The home side started strongly but the Wids, playing down the slope, gradually started to dictate play. The reliable combination of Michael Lamb and Paul Borg created the first score on eight minutes when Lamb made a break from the halfway line.

He drew the cover and fed Borg who looked to have the space to score but was hauled down short.

The move was kept alive by the supporting Ste Vickerstaffe who crashed over for his first senior try for the club and Stu Hussey converted.

The home side hit back with an Andy Clarke penalty on 19 minutes. Then on the half-hour mark, home prop Ste Pilgrim was sinbinned.

Captain Hussey banged over the resulting penalty from 48 metres.

Widnes made the most of their numerical advantage and went further ahead on 38 minutes. Hussey did a double side-step to make a break and released Alan Glover who timed his pass to perfection to put Gareth Riley in under the posts.

Hussey added the extras although Anselmians pulled back a penalty on half-time to make it 6-17.

The first score of the second half went to the visitors when Hussey converted a 59th-minute penalty.

Great defence by the Wids restricted Anselmians to just one second-half penalty, successfully kicked by Clarke.

At 9-20, the Wids were coasting to victory, but in the closing minutes they started to give away penalties and Anselmians began to pile on the pressure.

This told in the 78th minute when Pilgrim forced his way over. Clarke converted to give the Wids a nervous last few minutes but there was great joy at the final whistle.

The foresight of the Wids club to start junior rugby 14 years ago was rewarded with the winning of this title. A large part of this team are products of the Widskids setup, namely Mark Field, Mark Godwin, Ste Vickerstaffe, Michael Lamb, Paul O'Connor and Matthew Riley.

The challenge now is to bring more youngsters through and survive in the division above.