Salford Red Devils maintained their 100% start to the Betfred Super League season with a 38-12 win over Toulouse Olympique at the The Salford Stadium.
After an impressive win against Castleford last week, Paul Rowley’s side were looking to put on a show for the Salford faithful who braved the elements in blustery conditions.
The Red Devils were quick out of the blocks, with, who else, but Ken Sio going over in the right corner from a Marc Sneyd grubber kick.
A quick breakaway doubled Salford’s lead shortly after. The impressive Brodie Croft jinked his way through the Toulouse centre and offloaded to Sio just before the try line to finish the job.
Rowley’s men had found their groove and Joe Burgess found space to break down the left, before offloading to Ryan Brierley to score his first Betfred Super League try of the season – Sneyd then added the two.
It was Sneyd himself who was next on the try sheet, skipping past multiple Toulouse players to power over just to the left of the sticks.
The visitors did get some joy before the break, with Joseph Paulo low grubber kick slammed down by Chris Hankinson in the right corner.
Half-time: Salford 20–6 Toulouse
Toulouse closed the gap just after half-time to just eight points, with Joseph Paulo managing to touch down after a Tony Gigot kick caused a scramble on the try line.
But just as the French outfit were gaining some momentum, Sneyd’s high kick caused a Toulouse mistake, with King Vuniyayawa offloading to Tim Lafai to score his first Salford try.
With Salford cruising, Man of the Match Ken Sio touched down a Brodie Croft kick to secure his hat-trick.
He was not done there. Five minutes from full-time, intercepting a loose pass from Toulouse, Sio raced 50 metres down the field to score his fourth under the sticks.
Full-time: Salford 38–12 Toulouse
Salford: Brierley, Sio, Lafai, Cross, Burgess, Croft, Sneyd, Vuniyayawa, Ackers, Burke, Wright, Greenwood, Taylor, Sarginson, Akauola, Addy, Gerrard
Toulouse: Gigot, Armitage, Hankinson, Vaivai, Russell, Paulo, Albert, Garbutt, White, Navarrete, Bretherton, Dixon, Cunningham, Pelissier, Sangare, Puech, Marion.
Salford tries: Sio (2’, 11’, 69’, 74’), Brierley (18’), Sneyd (24’), Lafai (52’)
Salford goals: Marc Sneyd (6/8)
Toulouse tries: Hankinson (36’), Paulo (45’)
Toulouse goals: Hankinson (2/2)
Referee: Marcus Griffiths
Image credit: Steve McCormick
Written by: Harry Siddall
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