Hull: 20 (8) Tries: Whiting (2), Barnett Jr, Lupton, Best Widnes: 18 (12) Tries: Frame, Whitaker, Fa-alogo Goals: O'Neill (3)

The hosts opened the scoring after 12 minutes when a Widnes punt was charged down for Richard Whiting to score.

Vikings hit back with a controversial penalty try and they edged ahead before half-time through Matt Whitaker.

Following a solo try from Peter Lupton, Widnes kicked their way ahead again only for Best to steal the victory.

Widnes coaching advisor Frank Endacott hit out at the Vikings for the manner of their defeat despite his side staying up.

"Relief is not the word, we didn't win but the objective was reached and we're ready now for next year.

"Too many stupid mistakes cost us the win, but it was always going to be a close game.

"We had good body vibes in the changing room though, so we knew that we'd go close," he said.

Hull director of rugby Shaun McRae paid tribute to his injury-hit side for their win.

"It was patchy," he said: "We did some very good things and, to be fair, we did a fair amount of experimentation.