Ahead of our first away game of the 2018 Betfred Super League season we take a look back at a memorable victory on the road against this weekend’s opponents – Wakefield Trinity.
Salford got their points tally rolling for the 2011 Super League season with a dominant victory over Trinity in late February.
The visitors set the tone for what was to follow by opening the scoring inside the first minute as Matty Smith jinked his way through from acting half-back to send Stefan Ratchford over.
Salford soon scored again as Stephen Wild got on the end of Daniel Holdsworth’s high kick. Holdsworth’s kicking game continued to cause problems for Wakefield as his little grubber was latched onto by Mark Henry to extend The Reds lead to sixteen points.
Wakefield did get themselves on the scoresheet midway through the first half when Tommy Lee scored but it didn’t slow down the Salford juggernaut.
Forwards Rob Parker and Adam Sidlow both powered their way over in the second half before Henry scored his second of the game to round off an emphatic victory for Shaun McRae’s side.
The Reds even did it difficult in the second half as Ryan Boyle spent ten minutes in the sin-bin for a late challenge on Wakefield’s Jeremy Smith but it didn’t affect the final outcome.
Following the victory Salford Head Coach Shaun McRae said: “That was a performance like I always thought we could play. Defensively, I thought we were very sound.
“We covered a lot of their threats and a lot of players showed their potential and their ability.
“It was a real war of attrition in the middle. The conditions were quite poor and the ground got heavy. It got a bit of a gluepot and or middle unit defended well.”
The teams that day:
Wakefield: Veivers, Penny, Murphy, Dean, George; Smith, Lee; Korkidas, Rinaldi, P. Johnson, Mariano, Morrison, Howarth. Interchanges: Gledhill, Davey, Amor, Henderson.
Salford: Patten, Broughton, Henry, Nero, Gibson; Ratchford, Holdsworth; Cashmere, Smith, Boyle, Adamson, Sidlow, Wild. Interchanges: Parker, Paleaasina, Sneyd, Jewitt.
Tag: Matty Smith
Factfile – Salford Red Devils vs St Helens
Ahead of our final game of the 2017 season here are all the facts before we host St Helens tomorrow night.
Head-to-head
The Red Devils failed to win a game against St Helens between June 2010 and June 2015 – a run of 11 games however Salford have managed to overcome Saints twice in their last four meetings.
Both of the Red Devils victories since 2016 have come at the The Salford Stadium with Ian Watson’s men earning a convincing 44-10 victory last season before edging out Saints 22-14 in March, also.
In nine games between September 2011 and June 2015 Salford scored a combined total of just 76 points against St Helens but have since managed to rack up a combined total of 110 points in their last four meetings; scoring 20 or more in each.
Against their former club
There are three Red Devils who have enjoyed stints with St Helens – Mark Flanagan, Josh Jones and Gareth O’Brien.
Flanagan, who is still sidelined, featured for Saints between 2012 and 2015 and played in their 2014 Super League Grand Final triumph. Jones was also on the field for St Helens’ 14-6 victory over Wigan and played almost 100 games for this week’s opponents before switching codes.
O’Brien spent a short spell on loan in 2013 from Warrington and kicked 25 goals in seven appearances for the Merseyside team.
Saints have two former Red Devils and both come in the halves. French half-back Theo Fages made the move to the Totally Wicked Stadium in 2016 from Salford while Matty Smith moved to the The Salford Stadium from Saints, following a loan spell, in 2011 and now finds himself back with St Helens after a four-year stint with Wigan Warriors.
Try-scorers
If there’s one Red Devil who enjoys playing against St Helens its full-back Niall Evalds who has notched an impressive seven tries in his last four appearances against them.
Evalds crossed for two in the 25-24 defeat at the Totally Wicked Stadium as well as scoring a hat-trick in the visit to St Helens last season. The last time Saints visited the AJ Bell Evalds was also on the scoresheet grabbing a brace.
However, Saints have their own full-back come half-back who enjoys coming up against the Red Devils in Jonny Lomax. Lomax, who has scored three in his last two outings, has also scored in each of his last three appearances against Salford.
Tickets are on sale for our final home game of the season against St Helens and can be purchased over the phone, at the Club Ticket Office or online here. Fans can also watch our end of season awards for an extra £5 in the 1873 suite post-game. Season Tickets are valid for all Super 8s home games.
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