BURY Broncos remain four points clear at the top of North West Men's League Division Four following a battling 18-8 win at old foes Widnes Tigers.

The Tigers have often got the better of them in the past, but after falling to their first defeat of the season the previous weekend, Dave Kelly's men were determined to get back on track.

And while they did not put in a seamless performance, two tries from Bradley Cave and one from Matt Fish, plus two conversions and a penalty from the boot of Harry Coleman proved enough to seal victory.

Kelly said: "This was not a perfect performance, again the old faults of poor completion rate and penalties were still there but in truth the team were always in control.

"They also deserve a lot of credit for keeping their discipline despite some testing circumstances on the field. As ever it was a team win and it's good to see the result keeps us four points clear at the top of the table."

Broncos failed to complete any of their first five sets in what was a disjointed start, but the defence ensured Widnes never looked like scoring.

The deadlock was broken in the 30th minute when a play the team had worked on saw Cave feed Martin Wilcock who ran strongly before offloading to Fish and he showed great strength in forcing his way over with two defenders hanging on to him.

Broncos' forwards were now on top and strong running saw a Widnes player put in a high tackle, with Coleman kicking the resulting penalty.

The visitors extended their lead just before the break thanks to a nice bit of interplay from halves Kelly and Cave. Cave broke through the line, beating the Tigers' full-back with ease, and Coleman kicked the extras.

Bury crossed the line three more times in the first half but each "try" was disallowed by the referee, making it 12-0 at the break.

Broncos started the second half slowly and Widnes capitalised on a missed kick for touch to score in the corner, despite suspicions the scorer had stepped over the touchline.

Widnes followed that up with a well-worked try – a flat run from one of their half-backs saw him feed the centre, who hit the ball at speed to go over.

Both kicks were missed, leaving the Tigers trailing by four points, but the visiting pack took control to push Widnes back with some penetrating runs.

After a spell in the Widnes 20 the ball was moved to Cave who showed amazing footwork to score a great individual try, leaving several defenders grasping at air.

Coleman once again converted to extend the Broncos' lead back to 10 points and before the referee inexplicably blew for time 10 minutes early.

Elsewhere, Bury Broncos A are still looking for their first win of the season in NWML Division Four after losing 28-24 at home to Manchester Rangers A.