Broncos move off the bottom

London moved off the bottom of Super League with a dramatic last-gasp victory over nearest rivals Widnes.

The Vikings looked set to record their first away victory of the season as they led 24-22 with seconds on the clock, but Antonio Kaufusi burst through a whole in the defence on the hooter to touchdown and snatch a crucial win for the Broncos.

Widnes led early on through Cameron Phelps, before Craig Gower and Omari Caro gave the Broncos a lead that their possession and territory warranted.

Frank Winterstein touched down on the stroke of half time to enable Patrick Ah Van to tie the game up at 12-12, and the Vikings hit the front early in the second half when Phelps benefited from an untimely slip by Gower in the London defensive line.

The game opened up and London started to create chances. They were denied a try in the corner by a fine last ditch tackle by Phelps, and winger Paddy Flynn then did well to stop Jamie O’Callaghan going over on the left.

But it was in vain, as Tony Clubb powered through to level things up at 18-18.

Widnes then enjoyed their best spell of the game and saw two tries ruled out, as Paul McShane was judged to have knocked on when reaching for the line, before Ah Van saw a try chalked off for a forward pass.

The pressure told on the hour mark when Winterstein took Rhys Hanbury‘s short ball to go over to put Widnes 24-18 in front.

The momentum was all with the visitors, but it was seemingly surrendered when they opted to take a difficult penalty from all of 45 metres in windy conditions. Ah Van missed, and London were let off the hook.

With eight minutes left, London managed to get the score they needed through Dan Sarginson, only for Shane Rodney to hit the post with the conversion, to leave Widnes two points in front as time ran out.

But just as it seemed Widnes were about to record back to back wins for the first time since their return to the top flight, Kaufusi punctured their defence to send the home fans home happy.

Broncos coach Rob Powell said: “It is really great to be able to focus on something positive rather than negative. I thought the way we came back at the end said a lot about our spirit and resolve.

“This win really should be a big thing for us.”