Richard Varkulis scored a hat-trick of tries as Super League hopefuls Widnes secured their place in the Co-Operative Championship play-offs with a comfortable 32-14 win at Barrow. Varkulis scored two of his three tries before the interval and Kurt Haggerty scored another as the visitors led 16-0 against a home side reeling from the sudden departure of coach Steve McCormack. Despite a brief rally with a pair of tries from Andy Ballard and one from Jamie Rooney, Widnes wrapped the game up with a try from Paddy Flynn to nudge closer to the top flight.
BARROW WIDNES
1. Gary Broadbent 33. Danny Craven
2. Andy Ballard 5. Paddy Flynn
3. Anthony Blackwood 3. Richard Varkulis
4. Liam Harrison 19. Matt Gardner
32. Andreas Bauer 2. Dean Gaskell
7. James Coyle 13. Chris Gerrard
6. Jamie Rooney 6. Anthony Thackaray
16. Brett McDermott 30. Daniel Heckenberg
19. Nathan Mossop 9. Mark Smith
8. Andy Bracek 10. Jim Gannon
17. Paul Noone 11. Lee Doran
12. Ned Catic 34. Kurt Haggerty
13. Zeb Luisi 17. Ben Kavanagh
SUBS SUBS
30. Keale Carlile 14. Thomas Coyle
23. Jamie Butler 8. Steve Pickersgill
14. Martin Ostler 23. Dave Houghton
11. Michael Knowles 31. Tom Kelly
Referee: W. Turley
18 mins, Vikings Try: Kurt Haggerty
18 mins Vikings Conversion: Anthony Thakaray
22 mins, Vikings Try: Richard Varkulis
24 mins, Vikings Try: Richard Varkulis
24 mins, Vikings Conversion: Kurt Haggarty
HALF TIME
47 mins, Vikings Try: Anthony Thackaray
47 mins, Vikings Conversion: Kurt Haggarty
51 mins, Vikings Try: Richard Varkulis
63 mins, Raiders Try: Andy Ballard
72 mins Vikings Try: Paddy Flynn
78 mins, Raiders Try: Jamie Rooney
78 mins Raiders Conversion: Jamie Rooney
79 mins, Raiders Try: Andy Ballard
80 mins, Vikings Penalty Danny Craven
FULL TIME
