Joint boss Towey pleased with 'winning habit'

Kev Towey was delighted that his side "earned the right" to walk away with a rather convincing 3-1 win over Padiham at the Select Security Stadium on Saturday.

Mike Burke's first goal since January of last year gave Widnes a 16th minute lead before Stuart Cook doubled the advantage early in the second half.

Daniel Boyle quickly replied for the Storks, who had Mark Ayres sent off 10 minutes into the second period for a high challenge on Towey.

Sean Myler completed the scoring with a third goal deep inside second half stoppage time, with Towey pleased his side for maintaining a winning habit with their 12th win in 13 games.

"I think today was a bit more than a banana skin," Towey said.

"Padiham are a very good side. They're not just a mid-table team.

"For me, they're one of the better teams in the league in terms of how well they move the ball around.

"I thought that we earned the right to play football and make the result convincing. It certainly wasn't easy.

"The only negative was the goal we conceded. We completely switched off and Ste (Akrigg) has just said in the dressing room that you cannot concede goals like that at any level of football. It's a Sunday League goal.

"It's 12 in 13 now and it's quickly becoming a habit. Winning becomes a habit just as losing becomes a habit so it's important that we continue to maintain our current form moving forward."

Towey paid tribute to goalscorers Burke, Cook and Myler after the game, admitting that it's nice to see different players making important contributions offensively.

He said: "I think that we sometimes rely on certain people to score goals so it's nice to see others get on the scoresheet.

"Mike will probably still moan - he'd moan if he scored a hat-trick, and Myler has taken his chance well at the end.

"Stu Cook has also come in on his full debut and scored a great goal which is pleasing."

Widnes are back in action next Saturday, hosting bottom-club Barnton.

Despite the Villagers' lowly league position, Towey is wary of the threat that his former club pose and is eager to avoid complacency.

"I know what we'll get from Steve's (Lloyd) side," Towey said.

"He always has his side set up well and to always work hard, at a minimum.

"I do think that they'll come here and make it difficult for us. They won't want us to play on here so I'm expecting a really tough game."

Updated 17:50 - 31 Aug 2019 by Callum Chadwick