Betts wants Widnes to write new Cup history

Correspondent

Widnes coach Denis Betts wants his Vikings to go and write some new pages in the Challenge Cup history books this weekend.

The Chemics face Castleford Tigers in an eagerly anticipated semi-final at Leigh Sports Village on Sunday, and Betts is hopeful that his men will be in the best shape possible to go and claim a spot at Wembley.

“We have to put all our focus on getting over this massive game, putting a really strong performance in, and dealing with what we can deal with, and getting on and performing the best we can,” he said

“My job this week is to prepare the side and put them in the best possible shape to get to the start line and let them go.

“This is a great rugby league town, it’s a massive thing for them.

“The Cup has always been held dear over the years. The ‘Cup Kings’ of the 1980s, and the great teams that played, players like Andy Gregory, Kurt Sorensen – they’ve got some fantastic history at this place.

“But we’re writing our own history at the moment. We had to start again a couple of years ago, but we’re still aware of what our tradition is, and what this town is, and what it means to have a great rugby league side in this town.

“We’re going to hopefully make them proud and take them forward again.”

Widnes have been labelled as slight underdogs in the tie, following a superb campaign by Cas. Betts knows that form goes out the window when it comes to games like this, though.

“I’m not sure that there are underdogs. This is a semi-final,” he said.

“We’re both in the eight. They’ve had a fantastic season so far, and won some games that no one gave them a chance of winning, and have bee on form throughout the year.

“We’ve been strong in patches, and started really well.

“But we’re both in the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup, we’re both teams no one thought would be in this situation.

“We’re both in pretty good shape. I’m expecting a really good, exciting game.”