Salford put all the swirling salary cap allegations behind them on Sunday to de-fang Castleford Tigers by 32 points to 16.
Coach Ian Watson made some slight changes following the last ditch defeat to Warrington last week with Ryan Lannon replacing Mark Flanagan at loose-forward.
Flanagan dropped to the bench. Phil Joseph was drafted in whilst Niall Evalds lost out.
The game was Justin Carney’s first match against his parent club following his controversial exit.
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In the 5th minute the Reds were reduced to 12 when on-loan signing Carney was sent to the sin-bin after a scuffle with Nathan Massey.
The stalemate in this closely-fought contest was broken in the 12th minute when Gareth O’Brien slotted home a 30-yard penalty to give the Reds a 0-2 lead.
Bang on the half hour the Reds notched their first try of the afternoon when Logan Tomkins sent Tommy Lee spurting deep into the Cas half. He found Junior S’au in support who in turn passed on to Greg Johnson who raced away to score by the posts. O’Brien’s conversion gave the Reds a 0-8 lead.
With half-time not too far away, Cas got on the scoreboard when a forward-looking pass by Luke Gale was gratefully received by winger Denny Solomona who squeezed in at the corner for an unconverted try (4-8).
A few minutes later Cas drew closer with a Gale penalty following a Reds high-tackle for an interval score of 6-8.
The second period was much the same as the first 40 minutes until the 52nd minute when Josh Griffin forced his way through a ruck of Cas defenders. O’Brien added the extras for a 6-14 lead.
The Reds then stretched their lead in the 57th minute when Carney dived over in the corner much to the dismay of the home fans. A great kick by O’Brien brought a commanding 6-20 lead.
Cas came storming back when a pass that looked a mile forward brought Solomona his second try in the corner. Gale’s conversion brought a 12-20 with twenty minutes remaining.
In the 72nd minute Solomona completed his hat-trick when a long looping pass sent him in close to the corner-flag.
Gale was wide with his kick for a 16-20 score-line with six minutes remaining on the clock.
The Reds then clinched victory in the 77th minute when strong-running centre Josh Griffin stormed in for his second try. O’Brien again obliged with the conversion for a score of 16-26.
Salford though found time to add another try in the dying seconds when a deft kick by Michael Dobson caught Adam Milner napping to give Carney the easiest of touchdowns. O’Brien who had had a great day with his kicking landed his sixth goal from six attempts for a final score of 16-32.
The Reds appeared to be cruising at 6-20 but Cas had other ideas and fought back to 16-20 and it looked for a short while that the Reds were going to let another win slip away.
But this time they dug deep and kicked on for an impressive scalp and in doing so recorded their first win at The Jungle since 2004 and climbed into fifth place in the table.
Ian Watson said later: “We haven’t seen the game out over the last few weeks so it’s pleasing to see it out.”
“You know you’re in for a tough game coming to Castleford so to come here and get the two points is a massive result for us.
“Cas are a good team and they’re what we spoke about as a group at the beginning of the season – you build a squad with no idiots in the group and who all work hard for each other.
“That’s why Cas have got to where they have and is the kind of mould I’ve looked at to try to get us to be as consistent as them and finish in that top four. Daryl Powell has done a great job here.
“All the big sides will come here and struggle to win so it’s a big one for us, it’s massive.”
Salford: O’Brien, Carney, S’au, J Griffin, Johnson, Lui, Dobson, Kopczak, Lee, G Griffin, Murdoch-Masila, Jones, Lannon. Subs: Tomkins, A Walne, Flanagan, Joseph
Referee: Mr P Bentham
Attendance: 8,151
Main image © SteveMcPix2016
