Danny Craven scored a hat-trick as Widnes Vikings got their first Betfred Super League win of the season with a hard-fought 37-24 victory at Leigh Centurions.
The stand-off and half-back partner Tom Gilmore produced superb performances as Widnes became only the second team to win at Leigh Sports Village this season.
Widnes made a bright start with a try in only the fourth minute. Gilmore’s kick to the corner was grounded by Chris Bridge but Stefan Marsh could not add the conversion.Widnes are carrying the State of Mind logo on their kit this year
Denis Betts’ men went further ahead 10 minutes later when Craven shot through a gap in the Centurions’ defence to score from 15 metres.
The arrival of Liam Hood and Harrison Hansen from the bench freshened up the Centurions, who scored twice in quick succession through Danny Tickle and Ben Crooks, before Widnes hit back through Danny Craven to take an 18-12 lead at the break.
Sam Brooks crossed in the second half before Gilmore helped open up a 13-point lead, to which the hosts quickly responded through Crooks.
Sam Hopkins and Reynolds combined to pull it back to 24-25, but that was as close as Leigh got with the Vikings producing a strong finish to seal a much-needed win as Craven completed his hat-trick in the corner.
Denis Betts said: “To say it was a gutsy performance is an understatement.
“We had 11 probable starters sat in the stand and lost two players to concussion in the first 20 minutes. For the last 20 minutes I had no subs left. It was a massive effort.
“There is a dogged determination within the group and we had our backs to the wall.
Neil Jukes added: “I have no complaints with the result. Too many people had an off day for us. We didn’t show enough desire and just looked like a team that didn’t want to roll their sleeves up and get stuck in.
“We got what we deserved today. I was nervous with the way we defended our try line because we didn’t seem to grasp what we had practised in training.