Latchford fall to narrow defeat against Widnes Tigers

LATCHFORD Albion fell to a narrow 16-18 defeat at the hands of early division one leaders Widnes Tigers at Victoria Park.
A couple of late withdrawals saw coach Martyn Ellis forced to shuffle his side, and among the changes, Sam Dobson moved infield from full back to stand off.
This paid dividends early on when Dobson opened the scoring by dummying his way through to race under the posts, Lewis Johnston’s conversion being a formality.
Rather than kick on, Albion were guilty of not respecting possession and a series of handling errors invited the visitors back into the game. They quickly showed the quality which has led them to have an unbeaten start to the season, registering three tries and a solitary conversion, allowing them to gain control of the game. By half they had established a lead of 6-14.
As with the first half, the hosts started strongly, and hooker Phil Woollacott raced from dummy half and held off the oncoming defence to score out wide to reduce the deficit, and haul Albion back into the game.
A battle of attrition took place with defences on top as both sides battled to seize the initiative.
The only time the Latchford defence was breached in the second half came on the hour mark and it proved crucial as it opened up a two score lead for the visitors, who led 10-18 going into the closing stages of the game.
Debutant full back Alex Davies, aged 16, gave Albion hope on 77 minutes when he joined the line at pace, and went on a weaving solo run where he beat his opposing number to score under the posts, duly adding the conversion.
Despite further pressure from Latchford in the closing stages, a resilient Tigers defence repelled the attack allowing them to take the spoils in an absorbing encounter.
Man of the Match was the debutant full back
Davies who was a constant threat in attack, and solid in defence.
This Saturday Latchford make the trip to Oldham St Anne’s A, kick off 2.30pm