ESL Round 17 Sunday game preview

Widnes Vikings V London Broncos

11th-placed Widnes have the chance to move out of the relegation zone as they host London Broncos on Sunday.

Frank Endacott?s Vikings have started to hit form and victory over the Broncos would lift them above Wakefield, whose points difference took a battering as they went down 70-6 to Leeds on Friday.

Endacott said: ?We?re only four points off the top six! Sounds funny doesn?t it? But if we keep our heads and feet on the ground, and the discipline, we?re going to be around.

?Before the Leigh game, if I knew we?d get the two points I?d have been over the moon, but to beat them by 20 was a bonus. The overall result was a good one.

?All London?s attack falls around three players, Thomas Leuluai, Luke Dorn and Mark McLinden. If we shut those three down we?re in a big chance of winning the game."

London thrashed the Vikings in the capital earlier in the season but Endacott believes it will have no bearing on Sunday?s game.

He added: ?It was 66-8. I can tell you one thing, it won?t be the same at the Halton Stadium.

?We?re more confident and a better team and I?ll be disappointed if we don?t make it a real match.?

Widnes Vikings v London Broncos, The Halton Stadium, Sunday June 12 2005

Widnes 18-man: Connolly, Emelio, Craigie, Myler, O'Connor, Millard, J. O'Neill, Cassidy, Stankevitch, Hulse, Whitaker, Frame, Mills, Fa-alogo, Smith, Holmes, Viane, J. O'Neill.

London 18-man: Bradley-Qalilawa, Dorn, Haumono, Highton, Hopkins, Leuluai, Lolohea, McLinden, Mateo, Mbu, O'Halloran, Purdham, Smith, Sykes, Tookey, Trindall, Wells, Williams.

Referee: R Silverwood ________________________________ Warrington Wolves V Leigh Centurions

Warrington coach Paul Cullen believes his side deserve their place amongst the engage Super League?s front-runners but is determined not to let the momentum slip.

The Wolves moved up to third in the table by beating Huddersfield for their eighth win in nine games last week and can reclaim that place by beating bottom side Leigh on Sunday.

It is a remarkable turnaround by the Wolves after four defeats in their opening five matches but, knowing the quality of his players, Cullen is not surprised.

Cullen said: ?The players have a great attitude, great qualities and it was only a matter of time before it all came right. We were not playing that badly in the early part.

?The progress has been planned for but it can not be guaranteed. One bad result in March does not ruin a season and third position in June does not finish one.

?We are rightly proud of what we have achieved but it is not mid-June you need to look at the table it is mid-September.?

Cullen felt his players showed their true character last week as they overcame the handicap of a number of injuries to beat a fluent Huddersfield side 24-22 at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

He added: ?We had bodies all over the floor, all from accidental collisions that could have knocked us out of our stride.

?Lee Briers, Paul Noone, Chris Bridge and Graham Appo, all took heavy bangs to the head whilst Martin Gleeson received a blow to the knee that forced a limp throughout the entire second half.

?We had enough excuses to not win that game and took none of them.?

Most of the players who suffered knocks should be fit for the trip to The Coliseum, although Noone and Gleeson are slight doubts.

The Wolves will face a side apparently heading straight back to the National League after a difficult first season in the top flight.

Last week?s defeat by fellow strugglers Widnes left them five points adrift at the foot of the table and it would need a miraculous turnaround for the Centurions to survive.

Nevertheless, coach Darren Abram is refusing to give up hope.

He said: ?We are not throwing in the towel. We still have our pride to play for, and we want to make our fans proud of us.

?It does look like we have to win most of our games to stay up, but we will be doing everything we can to try and achieve that.?

Leigh v Warrington, The Coliseum, Sunday June 12

Leigh 18-man: Halliwell, Turley, Rowley, Stevens, Sturm, Marshall, Leafa, McCurrie, King, Stapleton, Mears, Fleary, J. Duffy, Kent, Smyth, Jackson, Maden, Wilshere.

Warrington 18-man: Grose, Fa?afili, M Gleeson, Kohe-Love, Gaskell, Briers, N. Wood, Leikvoll, Clarke, Hilton, Swann, Wainwright, Noone, Westwood, P. Wood, Lima, Appo, Bridge.

Referee: S P Ganson

Thanks to www.superleague.co.uk for another great article.