The first quarter saw Manchester dominating territory and possession but a fired up Widnes side, encouraged by recent results against the leading teams, dug in manfully. With Manchester playing with flair and the hosts celebrating winning a scrum as if it were a try, things looked good despite the deadlock.

Widnes’ first visit to the Manchester 22 actually came on 20 minutes when a speculative long kick was knocked forward to give the hosts an unlikely opportunity. The pack did the business however, wrecking the attacking scrum so that Manchester snuffed out the danger with a long kick to half way. This signalled Widnes’ best period of the half but their possession was more frustrating than threatening.

Gradually Manchester got the upper hand again and decided to get the scoreboard moving when a penalty was awarded on the edge of the 22, kicked by Day for a 0-3 lead after almost 30 minutes.

This gave Manchester the platform they wanted and minutes later a good touch finder penalty by Richard McCartney yielded a lineout close to the Widnes line. Jake Stewart was as reliable as ever with his catch and the ball was driven to the line, converted from way out wide by Day to make it 0-10.

Once again Dean Hogg at full back was eager to join his three-quarters in attack and this ploy split the home defence with half time approaching. An exchange of passes with Anthony TiaTia created the gap to allow Hogg to race over, Day converting again for a two try and 0-17 lead at the break, nicely on target for the hoped for bonus point win.

The opening couple of minutes effectively put the game beyond Widnes’ reach with a neatly taken try from Luke James. Playing with confidence, a looping but risky pass was thrown by McCartney to TiaTia which went to hand. The unexpected move meant that the right flank was undermanned so that Joe Houghton was able to skip around his opposite number to open up a 0-22 lead.

If McCartney’s ambitious pass had flummoxed the defensive ranks, his pinpoint cross field kick not long after caused complete chaos. As the defence raced to their left to try to recover the situation, Manchester moved the ball back to the defence’s right until it reached Luke Tyrrell who made the bonus point score, converted by Day, with half an hour to play (0-29).

At this point the home team’s attack started to gain some momentum, thanks in part to a couple of penalties that moved them upfield. Widnes were quick to take the opportunity that this presented and went into the last quarter 5-29 down and determined to reduce the deficit.

The Widnes resurgence continued as the penalty count swung against Manchester, but there was no panic, and the lack of possession was dealt with by a solid defence, frustrating the opposition’s best efforts despite a lengthy period spent in Manchester’s half.

With the job done and the storm weathered, Manchester went into the last ten minutes well in control of the game with the match points in the bag. More tries were looking less likely now and any threat to the lead whatsoever was dealt with when a couple of late penalty chances were gratefully accepted. Day therefore kept the scoreboard ticking to the end, closing the game out at 5-35 with Manchester still on the attack.