Rally fails to sooth Betts

Kavanagh could be out six months after snapping Achilles tendon

Last updated: 19th February 2012   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Rally fails to sooth Betts

Denis Betts: three defeats from three so far

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Widnes coach Denis Betts was understandably critical of his side's first-half display after they slumped to a 38-18 defeat against Salford.

The Vikings trailed 32-6 at the break and won the second half, but the damage had already been done.

Betts said: "Some of our decision-making was terrible and there were a few individuals who needed a good look at their first-half performance.

"I asked for an improvement at half-time and got a response.

"We had a different attitude in the second half after giving away needless penalties and losing the collisions.

"We are still finding our feet in this environment but expectations are high and we all thought we could win today."

Betts revealed Ben Kavanagh could be out six months after snapping his Achilles tendon.

"It's tough luck for Ben who has trained and worked very hard," added Betts who also lost Anthony Watts to a leg injury.

Betts also said Hep Cahill and Simon Finnigan, two of the three players suspended for a breach of club discipline, will be available for selection against world champions Leeds next week.

But Scott Moore, the third player suspended, will be out five to six weeks according to Betts. Moore is understood to be suffering from a broken jaw.

Salford boss Phil Veivers described his side's second-half performance as "dumb".

"We went away from what we were doing well," said Veivers. "We need to be more clinical and bombed six chances and did not put them to bed.

"I am over the moon we are off the mark but we need to be smarter. Shannon McPherson was awesome and Gareth Owen was a livewire with Stuart Howarth also going well.

"Vinnie Anderson hyper-extended his elbow but we don't know the extent of the injury yet."

Veivers refused to criticise the Vikings' synthetic pitch despite several of his players being given permission by the RFL to wear tights. "My focus was on our performance, not the pitch," said Veivers.

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