Widnes defeat The Bucks 4-2 at The Berry Street Garage Stadium.
By Brendan Doyle
The first goal game in the 22nd minute as Sharif Deans converted his effort past Tony Thompson, Deans was involved in two chances previous to the goal but finally got his reward.
Things got worse for Bootle 10 minutes later as James Steele doubled the score for the visitors with a good finish. In the 40th Sharif Deans popped up once again and scored his second of the game making it 3-0 to Widnes.
Despite a horrendous first half from Bootle they did manage to pull one back before the break as Tom Hannigan converted an effort from a corner.
The visitors seemed to come out of the tunnel a little too relaxed in the second half as Bootle created a lot more chances than they did in the first half. In the 74th minute Ben Hodkinson converted a penalty and a comeback for Bootle seemed very possible.
Courtney Duffus received a through ball and was one on one with Widnes keeper Mark Halstead, but as Duffus attempted to take the ball around Halstead his touch proved too heavy and nothing came of the chance.
Bootle were punished for not taking their golden chance to equalise as Sean Miller scored a 25 yard wonder strike in the 89th minute putting any worries for Widnes giving away a 3 goal lead out of mind.