Kieron Purtill: That’s why Toronto are Championship favourites

Widnes coach Kieron Purtill thought Toronto showed exactly why they are favourites to win the Championship in their 30-6 win over the Vikings.

Andy Ackers scored two second half tries to inspire the Wolfpack to a 30-6 win over title rivals Widnes at Kingston Park on Saturday night.

Toronto are Betfred’s favourites to win the Championship and gain promotion to Super League this year, followed by Widnes and Toulouse Olympique.

Speaking after the game, Purtill said: “I’m disappointed with the loss but the effort from our guys was fantastic.

“We’ve had a good start to the season, we’ve had two good wins but unfortunately, the Wolfpack were a more clinical than us.

“The first half took its toll and we ran out of bodies in the second half and we ran out of subs.

“Ricky [Leutele] was very good for them, they have got some exceptional players so full credit to Toronto, I think that’s the best they’ve played yet this year and that’s why they are favourites to win the Championship.”

Widnes trio Olly Ashall-Bott, Adam Tangata and Danny Craven all left the action with injuries and didn’t return.

On their injuries, Purtill added: “We lost quite a few boys tonight.

“We lost Danny Craven with a head knock, its looking like we’ll miss Tangata for a couple of weeks and Olly [Ashall-Bott] went off with a bad ankle injury, so we were struggling.

“We had some guys who played 80 minutes and should probably have come off, we had no subs to roll them around, so we will dust ourselves off and go again next week.”

Widnes will look to bounce back next Sunday as they welcome Sheffield Eagles to the Halton Stadium, 3pm kick-off.