Ahead of tomorrow night’s game against Wakefield we take a look over all the key facts behind the fixture.
Head-to-head
The Red Devils and Wakefield have been evenly matched in recent seasons with both sides winning five of their last ten meetings. However, it is Trinity who’ve had the share of the spoils in recent seasons winning four of the last five fixtures between the sides.
The most recent meeting between the sides was a real nail biter as Salford almost snatched a draw with the final kick of the game however the Red Devils narrowly lost out 14-12 at the Mobile Rocket Stadium.
Salford’s last Betfred Super League victory over Wakefield came on May 27th 2016 in a 38-8 demolition of Trinity at the The Salford Stadium. Between 2015 and 2016, Salford won four of their five matches against Wakefield.
Overall in the Betfred Super League, Salford have won 15 games, Wakefield have won 26 while there have been two draws between the teams.
Try-scorers
February’s meeting between the sides ended Craig Kopczak’s fantastic try-scoring record which had seen the prop-forward score in each of his last three appearances against Wakefield Trinity.
Winger Greg Johnson also boasts a strong scoring record versus his former club crossing for three tries in his last five games against Wakefield. Niall Evalds, Rob Lui and Kris Welham were the three men who scored when the sides met earlier in 2018.
Jacob Miller is Wakefield’s danger man against the Red Devils with the half-back scoring four tries in his last five outings against Ian Watson’s side. Miller grabbed a brace the last time Trinity visited the The Salford Stadium.
Reece Lyne has also scored four tries in his last five games against Salford but hasn’t crossed in any of the last three meetings between the sides.
Milestones
Niall Evalds – should he feature – will make his 100th appearance for Salford Red Devils. Evalds debuted for the Club back in 2014 and was the Club’s top try-scorer at the end of the 2017 season. The full-back will become just the third player in the current squad to reach 100 Salford Red Devils games behind Junior Sa’u and Logan Tomkins.
Wakefield half-back Liam Finn needs six points to reach 500 for Wakefield Trinity. The Irishman’s total of 494 has been reached with eight tries and 231 goals during two spells with the Club.
Kris Welham is currently three tries of reaching 150 in his career. The centre – who scored in the previous meeting between Salford and Wakefield – has scored 15 for Salford with the rest coming in spells with Hull Kingston Rovers and Bradford Bulls.
Tag: Liam Finn
Salford Red Devils 18-43 Wakefield Trinity
The Red Devils fell to the defeat against Wakefield Trinity for the third time in the league this season, suffering a 18-43 loss.
Ian Watson’s side took an early lead but found themselves behind at half-time and a slow start to the second half left the Red Devils with too much to do in the latter stages.
Centre duo Kris Welham and Junior Sa’u returned for Salford while Ben Murdoch-Masila was re-introduced after picking up a rib injury against Castleford. Tyler Randall debuted for Trinity with Joe Arundal returning to the side, also.
Salford had started well when Craig Kopczak powered his way over from close-range to open the scoring. Todd Carney followed up with the boot and the Red Devils looked to be on their way however it wasn’t to be.
Wakefield hit back as Jacob Miller was quickest to react to his low kick which took several deflections. The returning Arundal then put Trinity ahead midway through the first half. Finn converted both.
But, Salford managed to pull level as Greg Johnson muscled his way over out wide following some quick hands. However, the Red Devils found themselves back behind almost immediately as Miller again latched onto a kick after a mix-up at the back. Liam Finn converted before kicking two penalty goals before the break and one afterwards to open up a ten-point lead.
Chris Chester’s men were slowly pulling away and two tries in quick succession confirmed the outcome. Debutant Randall broke from the scrum and sliced through the Salford defence before Bill Tupou scored after several half-breaks and some off-the-cuff play from Trinity. Finn converted both.
Randall went on to join Miller as he grabbed a second as he again split the Red Devils defence from close-range. Tyrone McCarthy scored his first Super League try for Salford in the closing stages and it was some try as he spun, put through a neat grubber kick before collecting the ball himself and scoring. However, it was nothing more than a consolation for the Red Devils who face Huddersfield next up at the The Salford Stadium.
Red Devils: O’Brien, Johnson, Welham, Sa’u, Vatuvei; Lui, Carney; Kopczak, Tomkins, Hauraki, Murdoch-Masila, Lannon, McCarthy. Interchanges: Jones, Griffin, Krasniqi, Brining.
Wakefield: Grix, Jones-Bishop, Lyne, Arundal, Tupou; Miller, Finn; England, Tyler, Hirst, Ashurst, Kirkmond, Arona. Interchanges: Hadley, Fifita, Huby, Annakin.
Referee: Phil Bentham. Touch Judges – P Brooke & J Smith. Attendance: 2489.
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