Super League news: Widnes fined £2,500 for having 14 players on the pitch during Hull FC clash

1 Widnes Vikings head coach Denis Betts

Widnes have been fined £2,500 for having 14 players on the pitch twice during their 46-6 win over Hull FC in March.

The Vikings admitted the offences, which came in their sixth match of the First Utility Super League season, when they appeared in front of a Rugby Football League independent tribunal.

Comparisons will be made with Salford, who were docked two competition points for having 14 players on the field during a game against Castleford three years ago, but on that occasion the incident was considered crucial to the outcome of the game.

Widnes were well in control of their match against Hull when they made two substitutions in the last 10 minutes which meant they twice had an extra man on the pitch.

Chris Dean, who was being taken off along with Aaron Heremaia after 70 minutes, was still on the field when replacements Macgraff Leuluai and Lloyd White entered the action, while three minutes later Lloyd White returned to his position in the defensive line instead of leaving the field to be replaced by Alex Gerrard and made a tackle close to his own try-line.

Widnes won the March 10 match 46-6.

The tribunal fined the Vikings £500 for the first incident and £2,000 for the second one.

An RFL statement said: “An independent tribunal has fined Widnes Vikings a total of £2,500 for fielding 14 players on two separate occasions during a match against Hull FC in round five of the First Utility Super League.”

In 2013 Salford were initially fined £10,000 after being found guilty of breaching the rules but on appeal a tribunal halved the fine and imposed a points deduction.

That incident related to the closing stages of their match against the Tigers when Salford’s Darrell Griffin and the player who was replacing him, Vic Mauro, became involved in tackles while the club had 14 players on the field of play.

Salford successfully defended their line for the last three minutes and went on to win the game 34-30.

In 2006 St Helens were charged with misconduct after a similar incident against Hull and were fined £100.