Haydock 38 Widnes St Maries 30

DESPITE taking the spoils, coach Kevin Thompson was far from pleased with Haydock's performance as their usually solid defence leaked 30 points.

St Maries started strongly and took the lead with a converted try after 13 minutes.

But Haydock gradually got into their stride and they moved 8-6 ahead with two goals and a try by Paul Ireland after good work by O'Garra, Hill and Tickle.

This was the start of a good spell for the home side and further tries followed from Kelsey and Hill, the latter after a good pass by Boland, with Paul Ireland adding a conversion to make it 18-6.

But the Yickers were rocked when the visitors hit back with two converted tries just before the interval to leave the scores locked at 18-18 at the break.

A Paul Ireland penalty restored Haydock's lead early in the second half and they stretched their advantage when a telling break by Lancashire star Wayne Bloor paved the way for hooker Peter Cahalin to go in under the posts. Paul Ireland added the extras.

Once again though the Widnesians hit back and a converted try, followed by a penalty, saw the scores tied once more at 26-26 after 53 minutes.

At this stage St Maries put pressure on the Haydock line only to be denied by good tackles by Cahalin and Reynolds

Haydock returned to the attack though to regain the lead when Tither and Hill combined to put winger Tickle in for a try. Then came the decisive score with Bloor showing his strength and pace from a scrum to score under the posts. Paul Ireland converted and then added a penalty to make it 38-26 and virtually seal victory.

St Maries had the final say though with a last-minutre try and Haydock will surely have to improve their defence if they want to retain their title.