Widnes coach Denis Betts was relieved to make a winning start after the Vikings saw off last year's Super League wooden spoonists Wakefield 24-16 at Belle Vue.
Betts' men enjoyed three easy wins over the Wildcats in 2015 but were made to work hard this time by Brian Smith's new-look Wildcats, who trailed 18-4 at the break but won the second half 12-6.
"Winning is what it was all about," Betts said. "Away from home, against a team who have given themselves a completely different look, it's a hard place to come.
"In those conditions and with the intensity from the pre-season they've had, the first thing we wanted to do was win and we've come away with a really strong performance and lots of things to get better at.
"We had two or three opportunities to really take the game away. We've not got out of third gear and it's hard to say how good we can be on attack but defensively we were really strong."
Former Hull and Catalans Dragons forward Setaimata Sa made an early mark on debut for the Vikings with two first-half tries and Betts, whose side take on reigning champions Leeds in their next match next Sunday, was also impressed with his new second rower partner Chris Houston.
"Chris Houston arrived (from Australia) last Sunday and moved into his new house yesterday but he looked like he's always been in the side," Betts said.
Skipper Kevin Brown was typically influential while full-back Rhys Hanbury contributed 12 points with a try and four goals.
Wakefield coach Brian Smith, who saved the Wildcats from relegation in 2015, was also encouraged by the performance of his side and, in particular, the five newcomers, Liam Finn, Ben Jones-Bishop, Anthony England, Tinirau Arona and Anthony Tupou.
They led 4-0 thanks to Stuart Howarth's early try and kept themselves in contention with second-half scores from Reece Lyne and Michael Sio.
"There are some obvious disappointments in the game but the pluses probably outweighed the minuses today," he said. "I won't be saying that in eight or 10 weeks time but some of the things we need to fix from today's game can be fixed.
"There were some great things that some individuals did. We owned the second half for territory and put lot of pressure on them but they dealt with that pretty well.
"We were chasing the game and finished up with abouy a dozen errors. If we can cut those in half, we will give ourselves a chance of winning, particularly if the guys continue to work hard for each other."
Source: PA-WIRE
