NATIONAL CONFERENCE LEAGUE WIDNES ST MARIES 17 v INCE ROSE BRIDGE 12 05/04/08 The Maries completed their home fixtures and gained the win that makes Division 1 rugby next season almost certain. Congratulations should go to coach Will Tilleke for engineering two wins from the last four to secure this. With two scrum halves Matty Viggers for the hosts and Tony Baker for the visitors in outstanding form this game was not going to be decided until the final whistle and that is how it went when Lee Birdseye’s field goal gave the Maries breathing space in the final minutes. A Danny Rigby penalty gave Bridge an early lead before the Maries went a man down when Tony Kirwan received yellow. The hosts held out and took the lead on his return. The excellent Viggers backed up Rob Lamb’s break to score a try Birdseye converted on 24 minutes. Second row and man of the match Stuart Harland scored a second Birdseye converted try after good work from Anthony Hollins and Dave Welsh. Right on half time winger Matt Cunningham scored an excellent try pulling his side to within 6 points at the break. In a tight game like this points were of a premium and Birdseye duly converted two penalties only for Rose Bridge to power back with a try for stand off Chris Leyland which Rigby goaled. The game was now in the melting pot until the final whistle settled by the cool head of Birdseye with his field goal Stuart Harland was man of the match but was pushed all of the way by a magnificent performance from the entire side especially Matty Viggers. Excellently refereed by Andrew Smith of Salford. Team;- Danny Ruth, Sean Bennett, Scott Harland, Andy Benson, Darren McKinnon, Lee Birdseye, Matty Viggers, Tony Kirwan, Anthony Hollins, Rob Lamb, Stuart Harland, Alan Ditchfield Dave Welsh,. Replacements:- Mike Fairclough, Danny Yates, Danny Prendergast, Tony Hannon. Widnes St. Maries travel to York Acorn this Saturday for their final fixture of the season. Coach leaves Brentfields at 11.00 am. WIDNES ST MARIES 30 v SADDLEWORTH RANGERS 18 22/03/08 The Maries climbed away from the relegation zone with a magnificent win against title chasers Saddleworth. The first of many penalties went the way of the hosts after only 2 minutes with Shaun Dourley clipping it home. Tony Kirwan was proving unstoppable early on and from one drive Stuart Harland almost scored. The visitors showed their credentials and after a superb set of six their man of the match Emerson Jackman broke clear only for Dave Welsh to stop him with a thundering tackle. Scrum half Michael Coates equalised with a penalty for a high tackle but the Maries came back with youngsters Mike Allen, Harland and Danny Prendergast to the fore. With penalties coming at a steady rate it came as no surprise when a yellow card was shown to Alan Ditchfield for a high tackle. While he was off the field the visitors took advantage and scored through Fraser Coley out wide giving the kicker no chance to convert. Darren McKinnon diffused a move before feeding man of the match Andy Benson who slipped Ryan Millington through but he was stopped short. Benson intercepted and fed Welsh who made ground before releasing Matty Viggers who danced through to score giving Dourley an easy conversion. As so often happens whilst the Maries were celebrating Adam Walker ghosted through a static defence to score under the sticks. Benson barged 40 metres before releasing Rob Lamb who powered over for his first try levelling the scores at the break at 12-12. Michael Rowe was sent to the sin bin after only 1 minute of the re-start for persistent high tackles and the hosts made the most of his absence scoring twice. Viggers scored his second after approach work from Stuart and Scott Harland and Allen. Welsh’s conversion pushed the hosts ahead by 6.Allen then scored with a barn storming run and despite some dubious tackles he powered over out to the left off a Welsh chip. Mike Fairclough saved the day with a big tackle in the next Saddleworth move but they reformed and the hooker James Whalley scooted over despite a massive attempt by Viggers. Danny Ruth went 60 metres weaving through the tired visiting defence only to be stopped by a high tackle. Welsh converted the penalty. Allen stole the ball to score only to be called back. With 10 minutes to go Saddleworth were reduced to 11 men when first Jackman (yellow) for a high and Walker (red) for foul and abusive language to the official left the field. Sean Bennett and Tony Hannon scattered the defence for Benson to feed Lamb to power over for his second try. Welsh made sure of the conversion and the points in his customary way. Andy Benson was man of the match but was pushed all of the way by a magnificent performance from the entire side especially the young guns. Team;- Ryan Millington, Sean Bennett, Scott Harland, Andy Benson, Darren McKinnon, Dave Welsh, Matty Viggers, Tony Kirwan, Shaun Dourley, Tony Hannon, Stuart Harland, Mike Allen, Alan Ditchfield. Replacements:- Danny Ruth, Mike Fairclough, Danny Prendergast, Rob Lamb.   WIGAN ST JUDES V WIDNES ST MARIES 08/03/08 Widnes St Maries somehow lost at table toppers Wigan St Judes due to some very dubious refereeing decisions. Leading 15-12 with minutes to go they scored through Sean Bennett only to be pulled back for a forward pass that never was. Every decision, including two disallowed tries seemed to go the Judes way and kept them in the game against a revitalised St Maries. Tries from Andy Benson, Ryan Millington and Mike Fairclough with a Shaun Dourley conversion against a try from Nathan Jones and two goals from Scott Robinson saw the Maries lead 14-8 at the break. An early try from Wigan's Ian Thomson and a drop goal from Dourley set up the remarkable finale. WIDNES ST MARIES 8 v BRADFORD DUDLEY HILL 01/03/08 NCL side lost at home 8-9 to Bradford Dudley Hill (Scorers Scott Harland and Dave Welsh) WIDNES ST MARIES 31 v OLDHAM ST. ANNES 12 16/02/08 The Maries climbed above their Lancashire visitors after a hard fought victory but both teams are still perilously near the drop zone. The tension showed with players from both sides getting their marching orders in a bruising first half. The first chance of the game fell to St Anne’s centre Dane English who intercepted to race 30 metres but brilliant work from Matty Viggers and Danny Ruth stopped a certain try. A Lee Forsythe penalty edged the visitors in front before man of the match Karl O’Doherty raced 70 metres for the first of his stunning four tries and hooker Ryan Millington duly converted. St Annes had prop Andy Sands red carded for punching before O’Doherty raced in for his second try that Millington again goaled With the game boiling over and tensions flying young Craig Millington saw red again for punching out with St Anne’s Loose Forward David Sweeney sin binned for his part. Nevertheless from the re-start O’Doherty raced in for his hat trick again goaled by Millington only for the visitors to score at the other end through second row David Cookson. Forsythes conversion kept the visitors in the hunt at half time at 18-8. English scored early in the half to give them a chance but O’Doherty’s fourth put paid to that, Scott Harland added a field goal and Millington a penalty. Sean Bennett raced away for the final try with Millington converting with a towering conversion off the line giving the Maries two desperately needed points in their fight for Division 1 survival. WIDNES ST MARIES 18 v YORK ACORN 28 26/01/08 The Maries took an early exit from the National Cup at the hands of promotion candidates York Acorn. The visitors punished the Maries indiscipline and with the hosts having 3 players sin binned and the propensity to spill the ball at the most inopportune times Acorn always looked the likely winners. A breakaway try from Mike Embleton in the ninth minute ended the hosts promising start with Craig Fox converting. Nevertheless second row Shaun Conroy powered over before the first sin binning. Fox immediately crossed for a try and added the extras to a Richie Warren try to give the visitors a healthy 16-4 lead. St Maries lost their second player to the bin but managed to claim a try through Shaun Bennett only for Joe Budd to race in at the other end. Bennett responded with his second then Andy Benson hared in for a Ryan Millington goaled try to close the gap to just 2 points at 18-20. However a third St Maries sin binning handed the win to Acorn as Fox landed the penalty then Budd raced away to seal the win. ECCLES & SALFORD JUNIORS 26 V WIDNES ST MARIES 34 12/01/08 The Maries took two very valuable points at Eccles to assist their fight from relegation. With Ince Rosebridge winning by a bigger margin the Maries stay in the bottom three but only 5 points separate them from the promotion group so this division will go right down to the wire with only 8 games left. Eccles were first on the scoreboard when Marc Gilligan latched on to a chip through from evergreen John McAtee for a McAtee goaled try. A knock on enable the visitors to come up with the ball for winger Danny Sharples to score in the corner. McAtee’s penalty nudged the hosts further ahead before Scott Harland scored a well worked try which was converted by Ryan Millington. Mark Jones scored of another weighted McAtee chip before Sharples got his second to level the scores. Andy Benson scored the first of his brace of tries. Craig Millington standing in for the injured Birdseye showed his class when scoring for brother Ryan to convert but Eccles came straight back to level the scores at 20-20 at half time through Steve Fearnley. Matty Viggers gave the Maries an early second half lead that they were not to lose despite a battling show from Eccles whose cause was not helped when Mark Thomas was red carded for a high tackle. Benson scored his second but the hosts came back again when Chris Smith sent in Mike Davies for a McAtee goaled try to close the gap to 2 points. However Dave Welsh surged over to claim both points and made sure with his conversion. CASTLEFORD LOCK LANE 0 V WIDNES ST MARIES 48 05/01/08 The Maries eased through to the second round of the National Cup as Halton’s only representative and will host York Acorn in round 2 on Saturday week.Man of the match Ryan Millington opened the scoring after 15 minutes to settle the visitors down and tries quickly followed from Dave Welsh, Scott Harland and Tony Hannon giving the Maries a comfortable half time lead of 0-18. An early try from Danny Ruth scotched any chance Castleford had of a comeback and Harland’s second made it 0-30. The score stayed at this until the gutsy hosts conceded 3 tries in the last 10 minutes from Neil Bourke, Mike Fairclough and Jamie Rowlands. Lee Birdseye and Millington both converted 3 kicks each. Team:- Ryan Millington, Daren McKinnon, Scott Harland, Andy Benson, Sean Bennett, Lee Birdseye, Matty Viggers, Graeme Buck, Anthony Hollins, Neil Bourke, Shaun Conroy, Danny Ruth, Dave Welsh. Subs: Danny Prendergast, Tony Hannon, Jamie Rowlands, Mike Fairclough.   EAST LEEDS 18 V WIDNES ST MARIES 30 8/10/07 The Maries won a very physical game with what must be their youngest National Conference side yet. In atrocious conditions the London official Steve Davis showed that he was going to keep a firm grip on the game when awarding the Maries two quick penalties which resulted in the first score after only 3 minutes when man of the match Sean Conroy fed Neil Bourke whose drive to the line created the space for Scott Harland to sear over. Ryan Millington made no mistake with the first of his 5 conversions despite a howling wing and horizontal sleet. Mike Fairclough caused mayhem with a robust drive only for the ball to be grounded by Craig Millington. The visitors gave away 3 successive penalties to allow East’s hooker Dave Green to go over close to the left corner. Unlike Millington their kicker Joe Sheldrake was not as accurate and the Maries held a slight lead. The introduction of Tony Kirwan brought an immediate try on 21 minutes when he battered his way to the line fed Conroy who put Sean Bennett in the clear to score. East’s were reduced to 12 men after 24 minutes when second row Adam Moore was red carded for the use of his knees in the tackle. East’s refused to lie down and were rewarded with a penalty but the Maries stormed back when another Kirwan drive freed Craig Millington to race over. With half time approaching and 18-6 to the good the Saints had Adam Millington sin binned for an infringement at the play the ball. With only 6 minutes of the second period the game was taken from the hosts reach when firstly Danny Sharples went 90 metres to score then the home replacement full back was red carded and a penalty awarded for a flop after the try was scored. The score stood at 26-6 and with two men short East’s had very little chance. The only hope they had was to use the massive slope and the gale force conditions. This they did on 50 minutes when Simon Price chased a kick ahead from the half way line. He won his race with Craig Millington who got 10 minutes for his unsuccessful efforts to stop him. They repeated this tactic and were rewarded with a 75 minute try but from the re-start Neil Bourke charged 40 metres to score a rare try. Glen Holroyd for the hosts and Shaun Conroy for the Maries were men of the match pushed by Simon Price for East’s and Ryan Millington for the Maries. An interesting statistic was the use of 3 sets of brothers out of the 11 sets on the books. With Kevin Buck and Paul Kirwan just missing out on selection to make it 5 sets on the day. Widnes St Maries the real family club. Team:- Ryan Millington, Danny Sharples, Scott Harland, Sean Bennett, Mike Stevenson, Craig Millington, Craig Dourley, Graeme Buck, Shaun Dourley, Neil Bourke, Glynn Holland, Mike Fairclough, Shaun Conroy. Subs: Stuart Harland, Danny Prendergast, Tony Kirwan, Adam Middleton.