Vaughan Redford led the fightback for the 10-men visitors, who had Michael Dunn sent off moments before Connor Smythe found the postage stamp of Owen Wheeler’s goal with a delicious free-kick to equalise.

In truth, Widnes never really looked like capitalising on their one-man advantage, and their misery was compounded when Cody Cromack’s stoppage time corner looped straight in to seal the points for Pontefract.

Co-bosses Steve Akrigg and Kev Towey elected to shake things up by blooding new signings James Murray and Rhain Hellawell from the start in place of Michael Grogan and Harry Brazel, with the latter left out entirely while Grogan dropped to the bench.

Salford City loanee Anointed Chukwu was named amongst the substitutes alongside Keenan Quansah and James Steele who were both available again after illness.

After two weeks without a fixture, Widnes looked like an improved outfit on their return to action. They looked sharper, slicker and hungrier than they had in recent outings.

Hodkinson was particularly lively. He hooked an early effort over from a Jay Roberts cross minutes before seeing a shot turned behind after skipper Sam Sheen produced a 60-yard lung-busting run to tee up his teammate on the counter-attack.

The Whites would continue to look threatening and Hodkinson was denied by the feet of Sebastian Malkowski after latching on to Conor Ready’s deft through-ball.

Widnes would be rewarded with an opener on the 24-minute mark. Akrigg and Towey’s faith in new signing Murray from the start proved dividends as the former Witton Albion hounded Spencer Clarke into an error on the edge of his own area.

He then picked up the loose ball, and while his squared ball took Hodkinson away from goal, the striker produced a tidy finish from an acute angle that proved too good for Malkowski.

The hosts carried their lead into the second half and retained momentum. Shaun Holden’s clearance set Hodkinson on his way, but a poor first touch allowed Jake Picton to track back, and it eventually made for an easy Malkowski save.

They grabbed a deserved second on the hour mark. Ready spotted the run of Hellawell and brilliantly picked out the former Chester man who burst forward towards goal. His powerful effort was only parried by Malkowski, with Hodkinson arriving on cue to nod home his second of the afternoon.

Conceding a second seemed to spur Pontefact on and the Yorkshire-based visitors would produce their best spell. Dunn nodded over from a deep Jack Greenhough cross, and moments later, Collieries halved the deficit.

Widnes failed to heed the warning as Smythe’s floated cross from the opposite flank was met by Redford, who climbed above Holden to power home a close-range header.

The visitors were soon level, but not after a moment of drama. Skipper Sheen conceded a free-kick for a foul on Redford with Pontefract’s Dunn dismissed in the aftermath for a headbutt on Fisnik Hajdari.

After referee Barry Lamb calmed tensions, Smythe stepped up to curl his free-kick into the top corner to equalise for the 10-men Collieries.

Pontefract were embattled, and despite few clear-cut chances, the visitors looked the more likely side to pinch three points.

The winning goal was the perfect summary of Widnes’ recent run of form. Cromack lifted a deep corner towards the back-post that evaded the slightly impeded Wheeler, nestling in the back of the net to complete a remarkable turnaround for the visitors.