Widnes manager Dave Dempsey was delighted with his side’s performance as they stunned title challengers Workington.
John McGrath’s first-half thunderbolt secured a surprise win for Widnes as they beat the then-league leaders.
Workington went down to 10 men in the first half following an incident Dan Wordsworth and Fisnik Hadjari but Dempsey’s side still had to defend and had chances to wrap it up.
But for the Widnes boss, he couldn’t hide his pride for his side as they moved into the top half for the first time since the second game of the season.
He told Off The Park: “Brilliant all around. The day in itself was great to be involved in, the lads were buoyant with the result and outcome.
“The performance was exactly what we needed to do, we needed to make it difficult. We needed to make most of the football and we had a lot more than I first anticipated.
“Workington went down to 10 men which made our afternoon slightly easier but they’re still a very very good side so even with 10 men, they had moments. All around really pleasing, another step in the right direction.
“I think it gives people a little bit more respect for us, in the sense of what we are achieving and doing as a unit. I think people will prepare right and set up ways to beat us, but when you’re looking at results like Workington away, managers might give us that respect that we deserve.
“They’ve worked tremendously hard to get to where they’ve got to, considering the mindset and quality of the playing group when we come in was lower than what it is. It was about survival, we’ve risen above that now and we’re looking forward to next season so we can kick on.
“We’ve had a few times in the season where we’ve been winning games and one or two back to back and slipped up to City of Liverpool, had the result against Rylands after a couple of wins. It’s can we progress? Can we get a string of results again?
“We’ve got Colne and Glossop as our next two games, if we beat both of them which is a tough ask. It’s about not being complacent, sticking with the same mentality, we’ll prepare like we are preparing every week.
“Hopefully the niggles in the group can be overcome and fit for the Tuesday game. We’ve got to kick on and wanting to achieve as high a finish as we can, which is what we’ve set out from the start.”
[Featured image: 617 Photography]
