Wakefield were denied victory by a fine Widnes fightback and a missed Ian Knott penalty on the stroke of time at Belle Vue on Sunday.

Knott extended the home side's lead to 22-6 with a 48th-minute penalty but Vikings then struck twice through Karl Long and full-back Stuart Spruce seven minutes later.

Former Wakefield fan favourite Adam Hughes converted the latter and with only six points between the sides set up a thrilling final 15.

Wakefield looked to have pulled out all the stops defensively but Craig Weston drilled the ball through for Jason Demetriou to score by the corner flag.

The drama continued right to the final whistle as Knott proved unable to extend his 100% record when his penalty attempt drifted agonisingly wide.

Two tries in five minutes from Deon Bird and Martin Moana midway through the first half put Wakefield in charge.

Earlier, Fijian winger Waisale Sovatabua had given the Wildcats a fourth minute lead.

But that was quickly cancelled out when Dan Potter outjumped Neil Law after a fine crossfield kick from former Wakefield scrum-half Barry Eaton.

The Wildcats showed no sign of panicking, however, and Knott strengthened Wakefield's grip on the game with a penalty two minutes from the break.

Afterwards Widnes coach Neil Kelly said: "We weren't happy at all with our first half performance.

"We wanted a big start as we didn't want to encourage Wakefield. From half time onwards I was quite pleased.

"We are treating it as a point gained rather than a point dropped. We can go into a positive week ahead of next Friday's game (at Wigan)."

Wildcats' acting boss Shane McNally said: "We are at the bottom of the pile but we are heading in the right direction and came away with a point.

"We have a real chance that we can escape relegation. With nine games to go and 18 points available I believe we can do it.

"Widnes got some back to back sets and with the 10 metre rule teams are always going to have chances to score. But overall I was pleased with the full 80 minutes."

Wakefield: Holland, Sovatabua, Bird, Frew, N. Law, Moana, Davis, Broadbent, March, Jackson, Slattery, Field, Knott. Replacements: Feather, Keating, Handforth, Wrench.

Widnes: Spruce, Dimitrio, Potter, Hughes, Long, Weston, Eaton, Relf, Cantillon, Stone, Farrell, McCurrie, Frame. Replacements: Carter, O'Neil, Atcheson, Mills.

Referee: Peter Taberner (Wigan).