Michael Grogan came off the bench to score twice in a 3-2 Widnes win, with Danny Shaw initially equalising for the Whites after Sefton Gonzales netted a first-minute opener for Colne.

The Reds grabbed what proved to be consolation through an Aidan Chippendale penalty, but had Brad Knox sent off late on.

And co-boss Akrigg insisted Widnes' fight-back will provide the Whites with a massive boost moving forward.

"Honestly, it's a massive result," Akrigg said.

"You only have to look at their result over South Shields in midweek. They've played them over 180 minutes and kept two clean sheets so I'm delighted to see us come here and win 3-2.

"If you want to achieve something or push towards the top end of the table, you've got to come to tough places and get results.

"We've shown that we can do that. We've drew at Marske and won at Mossley on top of today so now the lads have got to have the belief that we can achieve something this season.

"It's up to the lads to have that self-belief and today we've shown that we're certainly capable of that."

Akrigg admitted that the game lacked quality, owing largely to the injury picked up by match referee Darren Brown, but hailed the contributions of match-winner Grogan and defender Shaw.

He said: "To be honest, I thought the game felt like a pre-season game for large periods. It was slow and obviously we've started poorly and conceded a soft goal from our point-of-view.

"The ref's gone and pulled his calf which hasn't helped either side with a 20-minute delay, and I think that's why the first half fizzled out.

"We went in at half-time 1-0 down and I think that was fair on the balance of play but in the second half, we were a lot better and deserved to win the game.

"I'm made up for Mike Grogan. He's not had too much game time and he's had to be patient, but we've put him on to cause a few problems and to his credit he's scored twice.

"Since Danny's come in, he's been superb. He's another player who if he adds self-belief to his game, I have no doubts that he can play at a higher level.

"He's still young and still learning but I'm made up he's scored. I thought he dealt with the threat of (Sefton) Gonzales really well."