WIDNES began their new campaign with a tremendous victory over local rivals Warrington.
The game was scrappy in parts and Widnes conceded far too many early penalties to find themselves 6-0 down.
However, they quickly found their feet and excellent tactical kicking created the opportunity for Mark Stanners to grab possession close to the Warrington line.
The supporting Nick Preston continued the move - enabling evergreen scrum-half Graham Riley to go over with Leadbetter converting.
Further pressure from the forwards created an overlap for centre Chris Ledham to put Adam Higham over at the corner.
Extended pressure from the visitors saw them score a second try on 60 minutes and it was game on again at 12-11 to Widnes.
But, tremendous efforts from Dave Godwin, Mark Stanners and MoM Graham Riley in the last quarter created the chance for Kevin Leadbetter to slot over a 40-metre penalty to secure victory.
Team manager Barry Morgan was delighted his team had shown plenty of 'grit and determination to get the win' when up against it for long spells.
