“Really cross” John Kear says victory “felt like a fake win”

After pushing one of the Championship favourites Toulouse Olympique all the way last week, Widnes Vikings defeated Newcastle Thunder yesterday.

They led 24-0 and were cruising but allowed the away side to enjoy a late flurry to make the final score 24-16.

Speaking after the game on the club’s website, Kear said he was “really cross” with the end of the game.

“I was really cross at the end,” he said.

“I think we let ourselves down with how we finished the game.

“I don’t know if it’s a culture thing, or if it’s if they’re expending so much energy, I just don’t know the minute. We’ll have to go away and have a really good look at it.”

Interestingly, he went on to reveal that one of his players said it felt like “a fake win.”

“It feels like a fake win, one of the players had said that to me. Obviously, we were comfortable at 24-0, and then we’ve absolutely put the cue on the rack,” Kear added.

“We’ve just imploded with penalties, missed tackles and errors. How we finished has been awful, so we’ll need to address that.

“The plus point is we picked up two points and we haven’t played that well.”

Elsewhere, in the Championship Halifax Panthers were stunned by a struggling Barrow Raiders side, Bradford Bulls were soundly beaten in the derby against Keighley Cougars and Featherstone thrashed York RLFC.