Salford Red Devils suffered a 16 – 23 defeat at home against Hull FC at the The Salford Stadium.
With a hat-trick from Josh Griffin and three penalty goals from Marc Sneyd, Hull FC handed Salford Red Devils a fourth straight defeat at the The Salford Stadium.
Josh Jones, Niall Evalds and Jackson Hastings went over for Salford, showing a stronger attacking position in the second half, but a drop-goal from Sneyd in the last 10 minutes of the game gave Hull FC the final hand in securing a victory over the Red Devils.
It was former Salford player Josh Griffin who opened the scoring for Hull FC, followed by two penalties scored by Marc Sneyd.
Salford held a strong attack with a try from Niall Evalds being disallowed due to interference, but the Red Devils could not break the Hull defence until Josh Jones powered over from a Rob Lui kick to secure the only try for Salford in the first half of the game, bringing the score to 6-10 at half-time.
Josh Griffin furthered Hull’s lead in the second half, scoring two tries in quick succession and winning a hat-trick in the 50thminute to further the Hull advantage.
Conceded penalties proved to be Salford’s downfall after Sneyd scored a third penalty to ensure Hull’s lead.
Both Evalds and Jackson Hastings went over for Salford until Snyed finished the game with a quick drop-goal to secure a Hull FC victory.
SALFORD: Evalds, Inu, Chamberlain, Bibby, Olpherts, Lui, Hastings, Walker, Lussick, Dudson, Jones, Griffin, Flanagan.
INTERCHANGES: Burke, Welham, Nakubuwai, Turgut.
HULL FC: Wynne, Logan, Griffin, Tuimavave, Faraimo, Kelly, Sneyd, Taylor, Houghton, Paea, Minichiello, Manu, Westerman.
INTERCHANGES: Lane, Savelio, Ellis, Washbrook.
Salford tries: Jones (18′), Evalds (58′), Hastings (70′)
Salford goals: Chamberlain (20′, 71′)
Hull FC tries: Griffin (5′, 47′, 51′)
Hull FC goals: Sneyd (6′, 11′, 37′, 48′ 66′)
Hull FC dropgoals: Sneyd (73′)
Referee: Gareth Hewer
Attendance: 3,609
Man of the Match: Niall Evalds
Tag: Jackson Hastings
Talking Points | Catalans Dragons 0-46 Salford Red Devils
Salford Red Devils earned a huge 0-46 victory over Catalans Dragons to move up to 4th in the Betfred Super League and we take a look at some of the key talking points from the dominant display.
Blistering Bibby
Jake Bibby made his first appearance of the 2019 Betfred Super League season and what an appearance it was. Bibby – who has predominantly featured on the wing for Salford – was named at centre and put on a fantastic attacking display down the left-hand side.
The 23-year-old crossed for two tries and also notched two try-assists. Bibby finished breakaway tries either side of half-time firstly planting down a Jackson Hastings kick before taking an offload and linking up with the halfback again to score just one minute after the interval.
🔥 @JakeBibby 🔥
2⃣ tries.
2⃣ assists.
1⃣5⃣ carries.
1⃣6⃣2⃣ metres.👏 Voted as your @SalfordDevils Man of the Match!
💪 #TogetherStronger pic.twitter.com/ThaGgBuFoF
— Salford Red Devils 👹 (@SalfordDevils) March 10, 2019
Bibby was a constant threat for the Red Devils on the left-hand side and got his hands free on a number of occasions to offload the ball. Two of his offloads led to tries firstly his flick to Niall Evalds who punted the ball down field with George Griffin eventually finishing the move before Bibby returned the favour to Hastings as he flicked the ball out to the Australian for him to find the try-line.
The centre’s inclusion came about due to an injury to Junior Sa’u who had been ever-present up until this weekend. Bibby’s performance has emphasised the strength in depth in Ian Watson’s squad particularly in the centres alongside Kris Welham, Junior Sa’u and Ed Chamberlain.
Dogged Defence
Throughout the 2019 season so far, Head Coach Ian Watson has continuously made it clear that defence will win Salford Red Devils games, and this is something they have been working hard on which has been evident in the opening weeks of the season.
Salford Red Devils nilled London Broncos in Round Two of the 2019 season and this was the first time they had kept a team scoreless in the Betfred Super League since 2006. They also went on to keep Hull Kingston Rovers scoreless in the second half of their recent meeting which allowed a memorable comeback at KCOM Craven Park.
That resilient defence continued this weekend as the Red Devils managed to keep Catalans to nil in a fantastic performance. In the second half, Catalans did earn a number of repeated sets on the Salford line, but Ian Watson’s men stood firm and denied the Dragons.
It is extremely difficult to keep a side scoreless particularly away from home. The Red Devils will no doubt take confidence from this and be looking to carry this dogged defence into next weekend’s fixture against Castleford Tigers.
Away Form
It may be too early in the season to start discussing ‘form’ however one thing that is clear is Salford Red Devils’ improvement on the road in the early stages of the 2019 Betfred Super League season.
Last year, the Red Devils won just one away game in the Betfred Super League and they have already trebled that tally in 2019. They earned yet another away victory against Huddersfield before an impressive comeback win against Hull Kingston Rovers.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BuzH4mhnoh9/
However, a 0-46 win over Catalans in Perpignan is certainly the most impressive victory so far considering the Red Devils hadn’t come away from the south of France with two points for eight long years.
This form has been helped by some brilliant travelling support from the Red Devils faithful at Huddersfield Giants, Hull Kingston Rovers and Catalans Dragons. This is something Ian Watson eluded to in his post-match press conference at the Stade Gilbert Brutus.
Lawton Debuts
Off-season signing Adam Lawton made his Betfred Super League bow for the Red Devils this weekend at Catalans coming off the interchange bench in the second half. Lawton had spent the last month on loan with Betfred Championship side Rochdale Hornets for whom he powered over for three tries.
While Lawton didn’t cross for a try, he immediately settled at the top level and didn’t put a foot wrong. Catalans had begun to apply a lot of pressure to the Salford line as Lawton entered the fray, but the former Widnes man stood strong and defended a number of goal line sets to help keep the Dragons out.
Lawton will be looking to push for a regular spot in the Salford side throughout the 2019 season and there is no question that the big man will cause issues for Betfred Super League defences with ball in hand.
Tickets for Salford Red Devils next fixture against Castleford Tigers at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle on Sunday 17th March are now available from the Club Ticket Office and over the phone on 0161 786 1570. For ticket and coach details, click HERE.
Salford Red Devils next home fixture sees them welcome Wigan Warriors to the The Salford Stadium on Sunday 24th March and you can purchase tickets from the Club Ticket Office, over the phone on 0161 786 1570 or online HERE. For ticket prices, click HERE.
Ian Watson | “It’s our defence we take pride in”
Head Coach Ian Watson was delighted with his sides 0-46 victory over Catalans Dragons and discussed a range of pleasing aspects of the performance.
On the performance…
We felt we did a lot of positive stuff last week against St Helens. We did things that maybe the supporters don’t notice but players see in those big game and we knew coming to Catalans we’d have to be at that level of performance or above it so we kept the game plan really simple this week because we knew how good Catalans were but coming here and nilling Catalans is above what we thought we’d achieve here. The defence won the game. The way we kicked them into pockets and then we were really resilient at the back end and that won us the game. The attack is the icing on the cake for us but it’s our defence we take pride in.
On surprising people with the victory…
Every week we go in to play and I know the players and I believe we’ll beat everyone we play. It’s no surprise to me that we’ve won. We’ve got a good group but they’ve just got to grow and mature together in learning how to win the bigger games and the mentality we had against St Helens we had today as well, but we were better against Catalans. It shows we can beat teams by doing things right, but we’re used to people knocking us – it’s nothing new.
On the forward battle…
Our pack had a meeting the day before the game and said that if we were to win this game our pack needed to step up here. Lee Mossop – despite the latter not playing – led the way in that meeting, Mark Flanagan came back in and Gil Dudson has been a leader since he arrived, those guys stood up and made it clear they wanted to set a standard for the pack, and everyone has seen what they’re capable of. I thought Daniel Murray was outstanding and Ben Nakubuwai too. Adam Lawton must have come on and had to defend six goal line sets and that’s the tough part of the game and his attitude was not to be beaten there and that was the pleasing thing.
On Jake Bibby…
He was absolutely outstanding today. He’s been waiting for his chance and we’ve always had Junior Sa’u in there who always does a good job and is a leader for us. Bibby has had to be patient this season, but he’s took his chance today and put a bit of pressure in the centre positions. We’ve been waiting for Bibby to play because we sensed in pre-season, he was ready this year to step up and he’s shown a real good account of himself there.
On the halves…
I think Jackson Hastings and Rob Lui were very mature today. From the sideline you can hear them talking and Robbie was very mature in how he managed the game and he was talking to Jackson all the time, so he was helping him because we have to remember Jackson is only young and Robbie is the experienced half and he’s played outside Jonathan Thurston so he knows how to pass his maturity onto Jackson.
On preparing for Castleford…
We knew we were coming into a tough run of games but we’re confident as a group that we can perform, and we’ll be keeping our game plan really simple, so everybody knows their role. The lads deserve a lot of credit for this performance and should take the plaudits, but we’ll be back to work next week for Castleford.
On the attitude…
The pleasing stuff was when we defended a number of back-to-back sets and then went down the other end and the support play was still there. We did make an error, but our defensive line got straight back in position and that just shows your team is hungry and ready to work hard for each other.
On the travelling support…
We’ve spoken about the away fans all year and I think they’ve been outstanding at every game. You can’t knock them they were unbelievable singing the roof off the place. I know they love a good trip to Catalans, but this will be better for the result and they hope they enjoy their night.
Tickets for Salford Red Devils next fixture against Castleford Tigers at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle on Sunday 17th March are now available from the Club Ticket Office and over the phone on 0161 786 1570. For ticket and coach details, click HERE.
Salford Red Devils next home fixture sees them welcome Wigan Warriors to the The Salford Stadium on Sunday 24th March and you can purchase tickets from the Club Ticket Office, over the phone on 0161 786 1570 or online HERE. For ticket prices, click HERE.
Match Report | Catalans Dragons 0-46 Salford Red Devils
Salford Red Devils ended an eight year wait for a victory in Perpignan in emphatic fashion with a dominant 0-46 win over Catalans Dragons.
Jake Bibby and George Griffin both scored twice while Joey Lussick, Jackson Hastings, Niall Evalds and Ken Sio all also found the try-line in a rampant evening at the Stade Gilbert Brutus for Ian Watson’s men.
It took just eight minutes for the Red Devils to take the lead as Lussick burrowed his way over from acting halfback in almost identical fashion to his tries against Leeds Rhinos and Hull Kingston Rovers earlier in the season. Sio converted.
A real arm-wrestle ensued throughout the first half but Salford were on top and they took their chance to further their lead when Sio slotted a penalty goal after 27 minutes.
As half-time drew closer, Salford turned on the style with two tries in quick succession. Griffin sliced through the Catalans defence to score from close-range before Bibby scored on the hooter. The Dragons put the ball to ground and a sensational pick up from Sio got Salford on the break. Hastings kicked forward for the winger who narrowly missed the ball, but Bibby was on hand to finish a great try. Sio converted the first to give Salford an 18-0 lead at the break.
The Red Devils begun the second half where they left off before the interval as Bibby scored his second try of the evening just one minute after getting back underway. Evalds slid through the Catalans defence from deep before Bibby and Hastings linked up well to allow the centre to score. Sio converted.
Just minutes later, Salford extended their lead even further thanks to a second Griffin try. Bibby’s offload was kicked down field by Evalds and collected by an onrushing Hastings who displayed fantastic vision to find the back-rower who finished under the posts. Sio converted.
Salford’s dominance continued and Hastings went from provider to scorer as he and Bibby again caused issues for the Dragons defence. Hastings weaved around the Catalans defence before finding Bibby who offloaded the ball back to the Australian to score.
Evalds was a constant thorn in the side of the Dragons and he was rewarded with a try of his own a few minutes later. Josh Jones put Lussick through a gap and the hooker tipped onto a pacey Evalds who finishes some flowing Rugby League from the Red Devils. Sio converted to take Salford to the 40-point mark.
It was Sio who would have the final word as he strolled over the try-line and under the Catalans posts after a clever offload from Bibby. The winger converted to round off a truly memorable win for Salford.
Salford Red Devils: Evalds, Olpherts, Welham, Bibby, Sio; Lui, Hastings; Dudson, Lussick, Murray, Jones, Turgut, Flanagan.
Interchanges: Burke, Nakubuwai, Griffin, Lawton.
Catalans Dragons: Tomkins, Yaha, Whitley, Williame, Tierney; Langi, Smith; Casty, McIlorum, Moa, Edwards, Jullien, Baitieri.
Interchanges: Bird, Bousquet, Goudemand, Belmas.
Salford Tries: Lussick (8), Griffin (38’, 46’), Bibby (40’, 41’), Hastings (46’), Evalds (58’), Sio (78).
Salford Conversions: Sio (9’, 27’, 39’ 42’, 47’, 59’, 79’).
Catalans Tries: N/A.
Catalans Conversions: N/A.
Referee: Scott Mikalauskas.
Ian Watson | “We’re confident in the teams ability to learn”
Head Coach Ian Watson was pleased with the effort from his side and feels the Red Devils can learn a lot from their opponents St Helens.
He also touched on a number of other topics in his post-match press conference.
On the game…
Credit to St Helens on how good they were defensively – that was the key. I thought just they were really consistent in turning us over in a pocket and were really consistent with their line speed and intensity in defence and knowing when to drop off and be really disciplined and not give penalties away coming out of yardage. Their defence was outstanding, and it was something we spoke about at half-time and that we needed to be better at and learn a lesson from a champion team. I think we did do that in the second half, and we were miles better at it and that’s credit to the players. I thought there was a lot of effort and endeavour from our lads.
On learning from St Helens…
That’s a key thing for us and I think it’s what we’re trying to learn as a group. We’ve got a group in now who understand how we want to play and what we want to be known as. Saints have taught us a lesson in how we want to set about defensively really and to have that patient approach but I suppose that’s why they’re consistently playing in semi-finals and play-offs and until we buy into that and are as good as them at that we won’t get to those semi-finals at this point but we’re confident in the players’ ability to learn and to go forward from here.
On the injuries…
Teams pick up injuries, it wasn’t why we lost the game. Losing George Griffin and Lee Mossop obviously disrupts things but big credit to Daniel Murray he was 18th man and he’s been told to jump in on short notice and stood up against Alex Walmsley and Luke Thompson. Lee Mossop looks like he’s torn his hamstring and is the worst of them all. George Griffin felt it pulling up and when he hit a shield, he felt a pain go through it, so we won’t know how bad that one is until he gets assessed next week.
On the defensive efforts…
Jackson’s trackback try-saving tackle was special as was Ken Sio and Niall Evalds’ effort on Tommy Makinson. We encourage those kinds of efforts from our players because it shows a real desire and work ethic within your team.
On the start to the season…
It’s been a good start and I’d say this performance was good, it’s given us something to build on. I’d say the disappointing performance was the Leeds one for us. I don’t think we represented ourselves well in the Leeds game, but I thought against St Helens we dug in and a lot of other teams may have cracked a lot earlier than what we did. We just need to learn to not get bored doing things and be a little more patient in our approach.
On squad depth…
I’m confident in the squad we have particularly with our middles. We’ve got Adam Lawton who is developing really well playing down at Rochdale Hornets at the moment and his movements have been looking a lot better in those games we’ve been watching. We’ve also got Daniel Murray and Mark Flanagan didn’t play this weekend either so there are guys to drop in there and I don’t think we’re in a desperate situation just yet.
Tickets for Salford Red Devils next two home fixtures against Wigan Warriors on 24th March and Hull FC on 7th April are both available to purchase at the The Salford Stadium Ticket Office, over the phone on 0161 7861 570 or online HERE. You can SAVE money by purchasing in advance!
Talking Points | Salford Red Devils 4-26 St Helens
Salford Red Devils fell to a 4-26 defeat at the hands of St Helens on Thursday evening and there were a number of talking points from the game.
Attitude
While the result wasn’t the one the Red Devils were looking for the performance was certainly a positive one as Salford put up a resilient display full of ‘effort and endeavour’ as Watson referenced in his post-match press conference.
The first half saw a real back-and-forth affair for the first twenty minutes before Saints opened up a lead heading into the break. However, much like large periods of the first half, Salford matched the current Super League leaders for most of the second half but just couldn’t open up the St Helens defence.
.@JackoHastings putting in work!!! 💪@TommyMak21's run was awesome, but @SalfordDevils' Hastings matched the winger to make a last-ditch tackle 👏 Class all round #NewBeginnings pic.twitter.com/dI7lyFbJhd
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) March 1, 2019
Salford’s defence remained strong for long spells of the game in comparison with their last home outing against Leeds Rhinos. If there were two moments that encapsulated the ‘never-say-die’ attitude they were certainly Ken Sio and Niall Evalds hunting down Tommy Makinson as he broke free and Jackson Hastings pulling off a sensational defensive effort on Makinson also as he went to score in the corner.
There is no doubting that if the levels of effort and desire remain the same next week in France that Salford will be confident of coming away from the Stade Gilbert Brutus with two points.
Injuries
It was a tough evening at the office for the Red Devils and that showed in the warm-up as George Griffin had to pull out of the starting line-up with a hamstring problem and was replaced by Daniel Murray.
The injury woes continued for Salford in the early stages as Captain Lee Mossop had to leave the field after just five minutes with a similar injury meaning Salford had to play a huge period of the game with 16 men.
Greg Burke also had to leave the field with for a concussion assessment which meant Gil Dudson returned to the pitch almost immediately after coming off to the interchange bench. Jackson Hastings also missed the final ten minutes of the game as he also needed to undergo a concussion assessment. The game may well have gone a different way had Salford had some better luck with injuries on the night.
Lee Mossop and George Griffin are both being monitored ahead of this weekend’s game against Catalans while Greg Burke and Jackson Hastings will also be looking to be in contention to make the 19-man squad.
Jansin Turgut
The acquisition of Jansin Turgut last season and his re-signing in the off-season may be one that had slipped under the radar with the other incomings however the Turkish international has put in some sterling performances thus far in the 2019 Betfred Super League.
Turgut was named as the Man of the Match by match sponsor Middleton Barton Group. The back-rower managed to earn an impressive 100 metres during Thursday evening’s game and also racked up a fantastic 44 defensive efforts. He was also prevented his first Red Devils try by a matter of inches in the first half.
The 22-year-old is definitely making an impression at the The Salford Stadium during his first full month of game time and he will be looking to carry his fine form into March and onwards.
Gameday shenanigans
Ahead of kick-off, special guests Jackson Yamba and his ten-year-old son David brought the matchball onto the field to an absolutely amazing reception and the Salford Red Devils fans displayed the true meaning of the Salford community!
Half-time of yesterday’s game saw the debut of ‘Wild Thang’s Wild Five Minutes’ with Dr Devil firing t-shirts into the crowd thanks to our brand-new t-shirt cannon with one lucky fan winning a golden ticket for a fabulous prize at our next home game.
Thanks for having us at the #Wild5Minutes last night @SalfordDevils we really enjoyed it, the crowd interaction was great, and what can I say about @DrDevilSRD shots? Top class! 👹💪 #TogetherStronger pic.twitter.com/cwIJRddGfp
— WT Sports Merch (@WildThangKits) March 1, 2019
Thursday’s game also saw the Salford University Takeover Day with a number of students, staff and alumni attending in both a professional capacity in the press area and as supporters. There was also a heavy Salford University presence in and around the The Salford Stadium as a major step between one our main partners for 2019.
Tickets for Salford Red Devils next two home fixtures against Wigan Warriors on 24th March and Hull FC on 7th April are both available to purchase at the The Salford Stadium Ticket Office, over the phone on 0161 7861 570 or online HERE. You can SAVE money by purchasing in advance!
Ian Watson | “We showed real character”
Salford Red Devils got back to winning ways with a brilliant 22-24 comeback victory over Hull Kingston Rovers and Head Coach Ian Watson was pleased with the character his side displayed.
He covered a number of subjects in his post-match press conference.
On the nature of the victory…
It was really good for us as a team and as a group going forward. To be able to show that mentality after so many errors in the first half and to turn the tide like that shows real character within the team and emphasises how good our team spirit is.
On the half-time team talk…
It was 8-22 at half-time and when we came in at half time, I just felt like if we’d cut the errors out, we’d win the game and we needed to complete sets and put the pressure on Hull Kingston Rovers. In the first half we started well and were on the front foot with some of our attacks, but we kept compounding it with errors on our own try-line and giving them the opportunities to attack us. We just spoke at half time about tidying that area up as we were carrying the ball too loose and we were causing our own downfall but once we rectified that in the second half, we looked really good.
Any standout performers…
George Griffin. He’s played eighty minutes in the middle and then at right back-row for us and that is a big ask to play in the middle for that amount of time. Then he moved into the back-row and made a real impact out there so we’ve got to give big credit to him.
On the half-backs…
There are more than Jackson Hastings in our team. Jackson has pulled off a great try-saving tackle in the second half on Joel Tomkins underneath the posts at a delicate time for us. Rob Lui was great, and he plays on the back of Jackson, but the pack has got to set the platform for you to go forward. If your pack doesn’t go forward your half-backs can’t do anything on the back of it so there are more than just one or two players, but Rob Lui was great.
On Joey Lussick…
He was probably out there for a little bit too long in the first half and he started to fatigue but when he came back on, I thought he settled us down and got us back to our old processes.
On the importance of the victory…
I think it’s a big one this. I don’t think many teams will come to Hull Kingston Rovers and win. It’s a tough place to come despite us having a few decent wins at KCOM Craven Park but they are a good team and they’ve recruited really well, and they play a great style of football. For us to get two points here and come back in the fashion we did we have to give massive credit to the players, and it was a great game but was a little nervy towards the end.
On the start to the season…
It’s been a strong start for us, and it is exactly what we wanted. We’ve got St Helens, Catalans and Castleford in the coming weeks, so this win sets us up nicely going into these games.
On the short turnaround…
With us playing on Thursday night we’ll have to look after the players.
Tickets for our game against St Helens on Thursday 28th February are available to purchase from the The Salford Stadium Ticket Office, over the phone on 0161 786 1570 and online HERE.
Match Report | Hull Kingston Rovers 22-24 Salford Red Devils
Salford Red Devils came back from 22-8 down to earn a memorable victory over Hull Kingston Rovers which means they have now won three of their opening four games of the 2019 Betfred Super League season.
Second half tries from Derrell Olpherts, Ken Sio and a late score from Joey Lussick pulled the scores level with Sio’s conversion nine minutes from time proving the difference between the sides.
Hull KR went into the break with a comfortable lead through tries from Weller Hauraki, Craig Hall, George Lawler and Jimmy Keinhorst. The Red Devils led briefly in the first half as Rob Lui and Josh Jones scored in quick succession.
It was the Rovers who opened the scoring as former Red Devil Hauraki planted the ball down from Danny McGuire’s low kick.
Lui, on his birthday, would soon get Salford on the scoreboard as he dummied and slid through the Hull defence to score. This was followed up by Jones who – in typical fashion – bundled his way over a number of Rovers defenders to score his third try in as many games.
However, the lead didn’t last long as Hall latched onto a chip kick from Josh Drinkwater. Lawler was next to score for the Robins as he wriggled free of three Salford defenders to score from close-range. Keinhorst would round off the first half scoring as he picked up a loose ball and raced thirty metres. Three tries in the final fifteen minutes of the half gave the hosts a 14-point lead at the interval.
Salford would come out a different side after the break and went close on a number of occasions but getting over the KR line was proving difficult. But the Red Devils pressure eventually paid dividend as Lui threw a looping pass wide to Olpherts who finished well to get the ball rolling for Ian Watson’s men.
The ball was moving much more freely for Salford and a flowing move involving Jackson Hastings, Lui, Niall Evalds and Junior Sa’u eventually found winger Sio who pulled off a magnificent finish in the corner against his former club. Sio’s conversion came back off the bar meaning the Red Devils still trailed by four points.
With less than ten minutes remaining, Lussick would go for the line from close-range – in identical fashion to his debut try last season – and force his way under the Rovers defence to level the scores. Sio converted to complete an incredible Salford comeback.
Hull Kingston Rovers: Dagger, Shaw, Keinhorst, Linnett, Hall; McGuire, Drinkwater; Mulhern, Lee, Masoe, Tomkins, Hauraki, Lawler.
Interchanges: Garbutt, Lannon, Atkin, Addy.
Salford Red Devils: Evalds, Olpherts, Welham, Sa’u, Sio; Lui, Hastings; Mossop, Lussick, Dudson, Jones, Turgut, Griffin.
Interchanges: McCarthy, Murray, Burke, Tomkins.
KR Tries: Hauraki (6’), Hall (28’), Lawler (33’), Keinhorst (37’).
KR Goals: Shaw (7’, 34’, 38’)
Salford Tries: Lui (10’), Jones (24’), Olpherts (56’), Sio (64’), Lussick (70’).
Salford Goals: Sio (57’, 71’).
Attendance: 7065.
Referee: Liam Moore.
Talking Points | Salford Red Devils 14-46 Leeds Rhinos
Salford Red Devils fell to their first defeat of the 2019 Betfred Super League season against Leeds Rhinos and we take a look at the talking points surrounding the game.
Going close
While the scoreline got away from the Red Devils in the end there were a few times Salford went close while the margin was much narrower. At 6-18, Jansin Turgut got himself over the line following a clever knockdown from Kris Welham however try was ruled out for a double-movement.
In the closing stages of the first half, Rob Lui broke from deep before finding Jackson Hastings who almost made the line. The ball would end up with Joey Lussick, but the support wasn’t there to finish off the move. George Griffin would then be held up just short of the line a few plays later.
📹 @JoeyLussick opened the scoring this afternoon.
💪 #TogetherStronger pic.twitter.com/sEsBmCt79F
— Salford Red Devils 👹 (@SalfordDevils) February 17, 2019
After Josh Jones narrowed the deficit early in the second half, Salford almost pulled the scores level as Junior Sa’u powered his way over three Leeds defenders. Unfortunately, the centre couldn’t quite keep hold off the ball. Had any of these opportunities gone the other way then the game could have well panned out differently.
Jansin Turgut’s sin-bin
A big moment in the game came on the 50-minute mark as second-rower Jansin Turgut was sent to the sin-bin following an altercation with Adam Cuthbertson at the play-the-ball. Turgut was sin-binned for running into the melee and escalating the situation.
Following the sin-bin, the Red Devils kept the scores close with Ken Sio’s penalty goal returning the arrears to six points after Tui Lolohea’s penalty goal following the incident. However, playing with twelve men may well have had an effect on the Red Devils in the latter stages but Head Coach Ian Watson made it clear this ‘wasn’t why they’d lost the game.’
Head Coach Ian Watson said: “Even for the next ten minutes following the sin-bin I thought we got ourselves back into the game and we were looking really strong but after that Leeds really picked up the speed of the game and took it away from us from there. It was a big call, but it isn’t why we’ve lost.”
Josh Jones continues to impress
One of the standout performers on a disappointing afternoon for Salford Red Devils was back-rower Josh Jones who has made a terrific start to the 2019 Betfred Super League season.
Jones was impactful at the John Smith’s Stadium in Round One and has now made try-scoring appearances at the The Salford Stadium against both London Broncos and Leeds Rhinos. Both of his tries came in similar fashion with the robust forward forcing his way over from close-range despite the best efforts of numerous defenders.
The 25-year-old has made massive metres already this season often taking on three and four defenders per carry and his offload game continues to cause a threat on a regular basis.
Gameday entertainment
Away from the field there was plenty of gameday activity and entertainment for supporters to soak up at the The Salford Stadium. Many supporters took advantage of the FREE entry to the Funderpark amusement park pre-game before packing out the Marquee.
The Salford Red Devils mobile Club Shop provided by WildThang was alongside stalls from the Salford Red Devils Foundation, Mascord Brownz and the Salford RLFC Supporters’ Trust all accompanied by music by a ten-piece band.
🥊 We’d like to thank Salford-born boxer @Marc_Leach and his trainer @JamieMoore777 for attending yesterday’s game and heading onto the @AJBell_Stadium pitch at half-time.
💪 #TogetherStronger pic.twitter.com/nUr6SXRgqS
— Salford Red Devils 👹 (@SalfordDevils) February 18, 2019
At half-time local boxer Marc Leach and his trainer Jamie Moore took to the field to promote his upcoming English title fight in March in Oldham. Aaron Parmar also did a lap of the The Salford Stadium pitch after bucket collecting to support his incredible efforts in running 22 10km runs in memory of the 22 victims of the Manchester terror attack.
Finally, Dr Devil was joined by Manchester Storm mascot Lightning Jack!
Tickets are on sale for Salford Red Devils next home fixture against St Helens on Thursday 28th February. You can purchase tickets for this game at the The Salford Stadium Ticket Office, over the phone on 0161 786 1570 or online HERE. You will save money buying in advance!
Match Report | Salford Red Devils 24-0 London Broncos
Salford Red Devils earned a hard-fought 24-0 victory over Super League new boys London Broncos which puts Ian Watson’s side atop the table after the second round of fixtures.
The hosts went into the break with a slender 6-0 lead thanks to Ken Sio’s try on his competitive home debut. Salford pulled away in the second half with tries from Jackson Hastings, Niall Evalds and Josh Jones.
A real arm-wrestle ensued for the opening twenty minutes but the Red Devils did have the better of possession and position and it eventually paid dividend when Sio crossed following a neat offload from Jones.
Salford continued to control the first half however failed to add any more points.
But it would take just two minutes of the second half for Salford to extend their lead. Evalds’ low kick came back off the upright and Hastings was the quickest to react getting his tally for the 2019 season underway.
London did apply some pressure to the Salford line, but the Red Devils resilience shone through and Hastings would add a penalty goal in the 55th minute to maintain control.
With ten minutes remaining, Evalds found an opening in the Broncos defence and jinked his way through for his fourth of the season. Hastings would add the extras to all but confirm victory. Salford were reduced to twelve men with five minutes left as Lee Mossop was sent to the sin-bin for an altercation with Greg Richards.
The Red Devils weren’t done however as Jones – who provided the assist for the opener – would get himself on the scoresheet in the final minute. The robust second-rower bounced off two London defenders before planting the ball down to round off a brilliant afternoon at the The Salford Stadium.
Salford Red Devils: Evalds, Olpherts, Welham, Sa’u, Sio; Lui, Hastings; Mossop, Lussick, Dudson, Jones, Turgut, Flanagan.
Interchanges: Burke, Nakubuwai, Griffin, Tomkins.
London Broncos: Walker, Dixon, Morgan, Kear, Williams; Abdull, Cunningham; Mason, Fozard, Richards, Pitts, Gee, Yates.
Interchanges: Battye, Ioane, Lovell, Pelissier.
Salford Tries: Sio (20’), Hastings (42’), Evalds (70’), Jones (79’)
Salford Goals: Hastings (21’, 43’, 55’, 71’)
London Tries: N/A.
London Goals: N/A.
Salford sin-bin: Mossop (75′)
Referee: James Child.
Attendance: 3236.
