Widnes coach Denis Betts has piled praise on his players after the Vikings dispatched St Helens 40-26 just days after a humiliating defeat to Warrington.
The former Great Britain star said: “It was a local derby on our home pitch in front of our home fans so the result is very pleasing. We came very close over the last couple of years to getting a result against St Helens here and we got one today.
“I’m happy that we got result at home because you try and make these kinds of things into a fortress which we’re doing well. You’re always cautious about a side that has gone through what St Helens has recently, having been beaten on Friday by Wigan.
“We came out with a lot of purpose and I thought we dominated that first period of the game. We stepped off slightly and typically of St Helens they got a little bit of a taste and scored a couple of quick tries, and then all of a sudden the game is back on again.
“There is definitely a fatigue element when it comes to things like injuries because in this game you can’t play half-heartedly but you’re still tired from the game on Friday.
“For both sets of players it’s a tough ask and these are the kind of games that teams can pick up quite serious injuries, but today we had a good group of players who wanted to make amends for Friday and we did just that.”
