Warrington Wolves miss opportunity with Widnes Vikings loss

Warrington Wolves missed out on the chance to move joint-top of the Super League on Friday evening as they fell to a 28-14 defeat at Widnes Vikings.

A 12th straight win would have seen Tony Smith's side go level with three other teams on 30 points, but Widnes came out on top at the Select Security Stadium.

The Vikings shut out their opponents in the first half and recorded three tries themselves on their way to establishing a 14-0 advantage at the interval.

Jack Owens crossed for the first of his two tries to open the scoring on 10 minutes, and tries in quick succession from Rhys Hanbury and Paddy Flynn in the moments before the break gave Widnes a cushion.

Cameron Phelps touched down seven minutes after the restart, and a third successful conversion of the night from Danny Tickle sent Widnes 20 points clear before Warrington briefly fought back.

Ryan Atkins and Chris Bridge both went over in the space of three minutes as the Wolves halved their deficit, but Owens completed his double on the hour mark to halt Warrington's revival in its tracks.

The score from Owens meant that Stefan Ratchford's late effort proved to be nothing more than a consolation. Warrington remain fifth in the table, while the victory sees Widnes climb one place to seventh.