For the second week running Douglas turned a promising half-time position into a second-half defeat.

They led Widnes 13-3 at half-time in their Regional 2 North West clash at Port-e-Chee but a sterling second half for the visitors saw them take the honours with a 15-13 win.

Douglas dominated in pretty much every department in the first half.

There were early big runs from Luca Simmons and Sam McCord and Simmons had a drop goal attempt come off the underside of the crossbar.

By contrast Widnes had only one foray into the Douglas 22.

With such domination a try was almost inevitable and the only surprise was the source.

In a players pre-match sweep prop Ralph Clarke was quoted at 250/1 to score the first try. If he’d put a tenner on himself he could have picked up a tidy sum as it was Clarke who crashed over the Widnes line in the 17th minute to open the scoring.

Nevertheless Widnes defended well and despite the possession and territory they held Douglas off until the half hour.

Liam Kirkpatrick carried into Widnes territory and earned Douglas an attacking scrum in centre-field.

The ball was moved left from the base and recycled to the left again where stand-off Josh Duncan ghosted through a gap to score unopposed and double the lead.

As half-time approached Simmons knocked over a penalty to extend the Douglas advantage, but Widnes had one final shot in their locker and with the final kick of the half Josh Salter returned the compliment leaving Douglas ahead 13-3 at the break.

Widnes started the second period the better of the two.

Almost immediately from the restart right wing Jack Krause opened up the Douglas defence but with the try line beckoning, his offload from the final tackle didn’t quite go to hand. Shortly afterwards Salter missed a penalty and while the lead remained intact, the warning signs were there.

Widnes had adopted a more conservative style of play for the second half and were retaining the ball in their forwards for long periods.

Just shy of 20 minutes the pick and go play finally paid off.

They ground their way down Douglas’ left flank with prop Dan Rourke finally getting over the whitewash. Salter converted and left the Douglas lead at three points.

At the half-hour Douglas replacement Conor Garland picked up a yellow card for a high tackle and, with Douglas down to 14, Widnes took advantage.

Salter kicked the penalty to the corner and the forwards did the rest with Jack Gilhooley picking up the try and a 15-13 lead.

In a tense finish Douglas swarmed forward. Widnes flanker Mike Jones picked up a red card for a dangerous tackle and Douglas had a penalty with the final kick of the game to take the points. McCord’s kick, however, drifted wide.

DAVE CHRISTIAN