Brown feels the heat after Widnes loss

Widnes made history with a first-ever Super League win over arch rivals St Helens at Langtree Park to increase the pressure on coach Nathan Brown.

The Vikings suffered a 62-0 defeat in the corresponding fixture last season but turned the tables with a 35-28 success to end a 16-match losing run against Saints stretching back to 1994.

St Helens led 12-6 early in the game before falling apart and crashing to a fifth successive defeat.

They are now eighth in the table and Brown's job will not get any easier, with their next two matches against the 2012 Grand Finalists Leeds and St Helens.

Teenage full-back Jack Owens scored two of Widnes' six tries and kicked four goals to leave coach Denis Betts beaming with pride.

"It's our best performance back in Super League," he said. "We got a real good thumping here last year."

Wigan full-back Sam Tomkins took his tally of tries for the season to 22 in 15 appearances as the Warriors beat Salford 46-6 at the DW Stadium to consolidate the lead at the top.

Winger Josh Charnley also touched down twice but Wigan's win came at a price with scrum-half Matty Smith facing a lay-off as a result of what coach Shaun Wane believes was a blatant shoulder charge,

"He has badly damaged his shoulder so I wasn't impressed with that," Wane said.