MATCH REPORT: London Broncos vs Widnes Vikings
Jake Watson • 1 June 2025
LONDON BRONCOS V WIDNES VIKINGS (by David Ballheimer)
London Broncos (6) 10, Widnes Vikings (6) 12
London Broncos, for the third time in their last four home games, found themselves on the wrong end of a two-point scoreline. However, Widnes Vikings most definitely deserved to take the points because they dominated both possession and territory, especially the first part of the second half.
All teams suffer injuries and in rugby league, they are a necessary evil. However, what is unequal is the players affected, and London were without winger Liam Tindall, scrum half Connor O’Beirne and prop Lewis Bienek, three key players.
The first quarter was notable for both teams playing almost error-free, albeit safety-first, unimaginative football. Only one set was not completed and, unfortunately, for the Broncos, on the back of a penalty, they lost the ball on the second tackle 10 metres from the Vikings line. Once the game reached the 21st minute, Widnes had their first real opening, but they threw a forward pass.
After this, keeping possession for six tackles seemed to become an almost insurmountable challenge. The Broncos lost the ball on their own 30-metre line after 22 minutes and, two tackles later, ex-London player Rhodri Lloyd was held up in goal. It delayed the inevitable only a few moments as Tom Gilmore’s pass invited Morgan McWhirter to stroll through a hole in the Broncos defence and Gilmore turned four points into six.
It looked as if Widnes were going to score back-to-back tries, but Jake Maizen’s pass towards Rhys Williams was picked up by Jack Smith and the Leeds Rhinos youngster had too much pace for anyone to catch him. Goal-kicking duties fell to Louix Gorman, and he added the extras with a superb conversion from near the touchline.
After half an hour, Widnes started a set on London’s 10-metre line but knocked on after just two tackles. Four minutes later, Ethan Natoli forced an error from AJ Towse deep in Vikings territory, but the Broncos failed to take advantage, losing the ball on the 10. Then, on the stroke of half-time, another excellent scoring opportunity for the Broncos foundered on a knock-on close to the Widnes line.
The second half was, for the first 14 minutes, one-way traffic and it was directed towards the London line. Within three minutes, Williams, a London hero in the late 2010s, appeared to go over for a try in the corner, but the referee ruled out the try and instead awarded a penalty to Widnes for a high tackle. Fans were surprised that neither a penalty try, nor a sin-bin for a professional foul ensued. As the tap for the penalty was taken some metres infield, the assumption had to be was that the high tackle was on the passer and not Williams, who had either stepped on the touchline or didn’t ground the ball cleanly.
Widnes continued to apply pressure and, five minutes later, another former Broncos hero, Matty Fozard threw a short pass to Danny Langtree on a last-tackle play and the second rower went over untouched to make Gilmore’s conversion automatic.
The Broncos’ defending was, it must be said, heroic, but the Vikings lacked a significant cutting edge in attack. Nonetheless, a succession of errors, penalties, repeat sets meant that Widnes needed to make only two tackles in the first 14 minutes of the period (London knocked on two tackles into their only possession). In the 54th minute, Gorman made a superb tackle on Joe Edge and forced the ball loose.
London marched downfield, aided by a penalty, and finished off this possession with a long pass out to the right wing. Smith gathered the ball, cut inside and crossed for his second score. Gorman’s conversion attempt curled towards the uprights and clanged off the right one, bouncing down inside the field. That proved to be the difference in the game.
Mistakes dominated the rest of the game. The Broncos had another superb defensive stand but struggled to take the ball down to the Widnes end. As the minutes ticked by, a couple incidents led to flashpoints. A bad challenge brought down Marcus Stock, who was able to continue after treatment, but his assailant escaped punishment other than a penalty.
In the 74th minute, however, a nasty piece of play from Gavin Bennion resulted in a yellow card, leaving Widnes six minutes to defend with 12 men. Two minutes from the hooter, a pass to Gorman was just too hard for the Hull KR centre to gather cleanly. If he had caught the pass, he would have had an almost clear run to the line. With seconds remaining, Stock was tackled five metres from the Vikings line. He was able to play the ball before the hooter sounded, but London, whose kicking had rather lacked danger, could not score the match-winning try.
London Broncos: 6, Luke Polselli 19 Jack Smith, 14 Louix Gorman, 20 Aaron Small, 34 Connor Barley, 1 Alex Walker, 27 Lennie Ellis, 12 Sadiq Adebiyi, 9 Curtis Davies, 8 Huw Worthington, 11 Will Lovell, 3 Ethan Natoli, 13 Marcus Stock. Replacements: 18 Ben Hursey-Hord, 21 Chris Ball, 22 Matt Ross, 24 Kalum Rathbone. 18th man: 28 Jenson Binks.
Tries: Smith (27, 55)
Goals: Gorman 1/2
Sin-bin: none
Widnes Vikings: 33 Jake Maizen, 29 Rhys Williams, 4 Joe Edge, 17 Max Roberts, 27 AJ Towse, 1 Jack Owens, 7 Tom Gilmore, 8 Dan Murray, 9 Jordan Johnstone, 13 Morgan McWhirter, 11 Rhodri Lloyd, 12 Danny Langtree, 18 Nick Gregson. Replacements: 14 Matty Fozard, 21 Gavin Bennion, 30 Luke Thomas, 31 Adam Lawton. 18th man: 5 Mike Butt.
Tries: McWhirter (23), Langtree (47).
Goals: Gilmore 2/2
Sin-bin: Bennion, 73, serious foul play
Referee: Aaryn Belafonte
HT: 6–6
Penalty awarded count: 5–7
Attendance: TBA
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