Widnes 12 Winnington Park 41: IF possession is nine tenths of the law, Widnes gave it up far too often at Heath Road on Saturday.

It was once again their unhappy knack of losing ball in the set pieces which brought their downfall.

All but 10 points were scored in the first half and the vast majority came from the unbeaten visitors.

At half-time, the two Powergen North Two West sides had been locked at 5-5 but Widnes' early promise went unfulfilled.

Winnington had opened the scoring through left winger Nathan Archer's try.

But Widnes hit back emphatically within three minutes as centre Rob Critchley roared in from 30 metres.

Widnes had their chances, and on 12 minutes, captain Stu Hussey missed with a drop goal.

Terry O'Hanlon saw a kickable penalty go wide after a Winnington player had been sinbinned and Phil Glover followed suit approaching half-time.

The second half was a different affair as Winnington capitalised on poor ball retention by Widnes.

Their lead was restored when winger Rick Shaw spotted a chink of light in the home defence to race over wide out.

Widnes introduced Nick Fellows from the bench, but he was unable to stop another try as John Piggott plunged over from close range for Gary Bell to convert.

When Winnington added a penalty to stretch even further in front, it was looking ominous for Widnes.

They responded, however, with a Mike Bowles try to reduce the gap to only eight points.

But by the Wids coughing up possession however, Park soon regained their momentum. On sixty-three minutes, a rolling maul close to the line saw Moriarty go over to make it 27-12.

And then, after Widnes had lost the ball close to the opposition line once more, Moriarty added his second from a 70m move.

Shaw added his second try late on and the trusty boot of Bell rounded off the scoring for Park.

Oldham 6 Widnes 2nd 6

THE only scores of this even game, predominantly played through the forwards, were two penalty goals apiece.

Andy Ruane duly obliged for Widnes - his second kick, a superb effort from 45 yards, earning a richly-deserved draw.

The visitors' skilful front three of Wilde, Brick and Preston not only won their own ball but managed two strikes against the head.

The back five of Adam Loughnane, Bruce, Morgan, Duffy and Mark Loughnane supported well while Brick's top-class line-out throwing enabled the Loughnanes to win their fair share of possession.

Excellent tackling kept Oldham at bay but similarly, Widnes could not breach the host's defence.

This was despite the best efforts of half-backs Highfield and Ruane, supported by centres Leedam and Winstanley.

Saturday's game is at Rossendale in the cup and players should meet for 12.15pm.