AFTER last week's superb performance against Old Anselmians, this top of the table clash was a dour affair with neither side willing to spread the ball wide, happy to play 'safety-first' rugby.

The Widnes back row pounded the home defence and only heroic tackling, notably from centres Donaldson and Dinwoodie kept the visitors out.

This early pressure paid off and Wirral conceded a penalty which was turned into three points by S. Hussey.

Widnes persisted with these tactics and, following a line-out in the Wirral five-metre line, Tom Ledsom cut through a ragged Wirral defence for the first try which was converted by O'Connor to make it 10-0.

Play eventually was taken into the Widnes 22 where an offside offence was dutifully punished by Jimmy Yarranton.

With the score at 10-3, Wirral suffered a setback when Paul Dinwoodie limped off with a hamstring injury to be replaced by Ian White.

There were several forays into the Widnes 22, but all too often, poor decision making let the home side down.

The second half saw Wirral with much the greater territorial advantage and from a five-metre scrum on the Widnes line, quick channel one ball saw No 8 Graeme Phelan pick up and put scrum-half Matt Slater in for a try.

Unfortunately, Wirral turned over a lot of possession to the visitors, missed touch too often and this, combined with some reckless tackling lost the home side a lot of ground.

A quick tap-penalty saw the Widnes left wing power through a disorganised defence to make it 15-8.

Wirral pressed Widnes right up to the final whistle, but the elusive second try never materialised, leaving Widnes grateful to accept the winning points.