INTERVIEW | Horne reacts to narrow defeat at Widnes

Dons head coach Richard Horne was left frustrated following his side’s narrow defeat against Widnes Vikings on Sunday afternoon.

Tries from Sam Smeaton and Craig Hall saw the Dons within two points at the DCBL Stadium but three host tries and a last minute interception denied the visitors victory.

Following the defeat, the Dons boss felt his side orchestrated their own issues.

Horne said: “It was a frustrating one because I felt like we put everything on ourselves with the errors and the penalties that we were making.

“I thought defensively we looked solid with what they were throwing at us but because we were turning over the ball on a hot day, on a fast track, we just did far too much defending the moment we needed to.

“When we got the ball, we just couldn't really move it like we wanted to because we were just looking to get to the end of the set.

“I thought our last tackle plays were the difference between the two teams. Their last tackle plays were far more controlled than ours were. 

“We were sort of making ours up whereas they were putting us in a corner and asking us to come out of there and do it tough so I think that helped them get the result.”

It was the Dons’ second trip to Widnes this season and Horne felt his side’s improvements since their Challenge Cup defeat provides promise for the rest of the season.

“We are learning in this competition and hopefully we'll learn a lot from this game like we did in the Challenge Cup in seeing games out and what it takes.

“We're confident that we can build on this going into Batley. We'll just tidy everything up and make sure everyone's all right and kick on from there.”

The Dons came within yards of the try-line in the final minute of the game but were denied of victory by a blind interception – leaving the Dons to rue a missed opportunity.

Horne added: “It's frustrating. We had a full set on the line and we turned it over on play one and they're the opportunities we're speaking about in this competition.

“You can't just chance your arm. It has to be controlled. It has to have a thought process behind it.

“It is frustrating, but they defended well as well. They scrambled well. We made a couple of line breaks and they mopped it up. It was a really good game to watch.” 

With a two-week break before the Dons’ next game against Batley Bulldogs, Horne says his side will continue to search for their winning formula.

“We will focus on ourselves at the moment. We're still in that process of finding the best way that suits us to play.

“We'll have a really good two-week build-up to battle again. Making sure we tidy up on the areas that are hurting us so we can put a little bit of pressure on other teams.”