Salford Red Devils 22 Castleford Tigers 18
AJ Bell Stadium 1st July 2016
At the beginning of an important few days for the Reds,coach Ian Watson was able to call on Greg Johnson,Mason Caton-Brown and Josh Griffin who all came back from long-term injuries. New hooker Sean Kenny was on the bench but Justin Carney was side-lined with a two-match ban.
The Reds took to the field to the strains of Joy Division’s Love will tear us apart. Reds fans were hoping for some joy themselves and were hoping to move up the division providing the Red Devils tore the Tigers apart!
It was the visitors who drew first blood in the 9th minute when they moved the ball out wide for centre Jake Webster to crash over. An impressive conversion by Luke Gale from almost touch brought a 0-6 lead.
Six minutes later the Reds replied when a flowing passing move ended with Gareth O’Brien gliding through the Cas defence to score. He was unable to add the extras with his kick just shaving the outside of the sticks (4-6).
In the 23rd minute the Reds forged ahead when a great grubber kick by Robert Lui was pounced on by Michael Dobson to score under the posts to give O’Brien an easy conversion and a 10-6 lead.
Just over ten minutes later the Tigers regained the advantage when Luke Dorn linked up to send Webster in for his second try. Gale converted for a 10-12 lead.
The half ended with Greg Johnson squeezing in at the corner-flag but his effort was ruled out by the video referee as he lost possession as he crossed the line.
In the 46th minute,the Tigers increased their lead when Dorn came racing on to a great ball from Gale to score by the posts. Gale converted for an eight point lead at 10-18.
With twenty-three minutes remaining the Reds mounted their first real attack of the half and a sweeping move saw Caton-Brown crash over in the corner. A great touch-line kick by O’Brien meant they trailed by just two points at 16-18.
In the 70th minute the Reds drew level when a high tackle on Lui gifted O’Brien a penalty under the posts. He made no mistake to set up a tense finale.
Cas were proving to be their own worst enemies as they gave away two further penalties for foul play in the last five minutes. The sure-footed O’Brien kept his cool to land both kicks and hand the Reds a precious win.
After losing a number of games in recent weeks it was good to the Reds never say die attitude be rewarded with this narrow victory which was so crucial ahead of next week’s appeal against the Salary Cap points deduction.
Salford coach Watson said after the game: “It’s always been our aim to get in the top eight and while it’s still possible, we want to keep aiming there. We feel we should be there in our own right.
“Obviously it’s a big week for us because we’ve got the hearing to see if we get the points back or not.
“Gaz [O’Brien] is quite a relaxed character and, in situations where you need him, he generally comes up with the goods. We’ve a great bunch of guys who are very competitive and we give ourselves a chance in every game.
“We just needed to learn to manage the game better and today I thought we managed it really well. We’ve executed really well and come through the other side, which is a big one for us.”
Salford: O’Brien; Johnson,Sau,J Griffin,Caton-Brown,Lui, Dobson,Kopczak,Tomkins,G Griffin, Murdoch-Masila, Jones,Flanagan.
Subs: Hauraki,J Walne,Kenny,A Walne.
Referee: Mr J Child
Attendance: 2,275
