THE Colts lost the season's opening League fixture despite a battling perfor mance.

Widnes raced into a ten-point lead as the forwards dominated the opening 20 minutes.

Williamson, Hetherington, Harrison and Varley took the game to their hosts, resulting in the excellent Joe Clark breaking two tackles to touch down.

Morgan extended the lead, dummying over from 30 yards. Winnington hit back with a penalty goal, followed by a neat drop goal.

Hetherington landed a 35-yard penalty goal to leave Wids 13-6 up at the break.

The second half saw Widnes give away far too many penalties and turnover balls in the tackle. This ensured Park easy field position, leading to two scores for a first-time lead.

Winnington made victory safe two minutes from time with an excellent 35-yard drop goal.

Wids MoM Mahoney was closely followed by Clark and Hulme.