Alarm bells are ringing for the Salford City Roosters after a ninth consecutive league defeat to fellow relegation strugglers Saddleworth Rangers.
Even at the halfway point of the season, the bottom three clubs are already seven points adrift of the safety zone.
It’s a bitter pill for the Roosters to swallow, as they let slip a commanding 16-point lead.
Roosters led at half time after an error-riddled first half, but a disastrous third quarter was ultimately their undoing.
After an early Gary Bowker score for the hosts, Roosters took a 6-4 lead on 11 minutes when Ben Connor’s tackle dislodged the ball and Parker strolled across the line to give himself an easy conversion.
Roosters were cock-a-hoop after a 23rd minute Parker penalty nudged them further up the scoreboard.
Two more scores by Christian Higgins and Andrew Muscat, both inspired by the Salford talisman, put Saddleworth 20-10 down at half-time.
Rangers took the field for the second half with renewed belief and turned the game completely around in 13 minutes.
Roosters were forced to drop out when Muscat was tackled in goal but within a minute Langhorn scored his second try wide out and Whitehead added the extras (20-16).
Then, on 50 minutes, Ben Wood scored in the corner and Whitehead converted brilliantly again (20-22), and Wood turned provider three minutes later, breaking across the halfway line before sending Bowker over for his second try.
Roosters converted one of many chances on 58 minutes when White forced the ball down through a host of defenders leaving Parker an easy conversion to bring the Salford side back to 28-26.
With a two-point margin the game was in the balance and when Rangers were awarded a penalty on 70 minutes Whitehead went for goal.
To be fair, everybody in the ground thought he had scored but the independent touch judges both waved it away.
If that was unlucky on the home side they made up for it soon after when a Roosters attack broke down and they countered quickly with a try from Liam Hall to push the score to 32-26.
Roosters threw everything into attack and four minutes from time a kick to the in goal by Openshaw was palmed dead for a goal-line drop out, but that was as near as the Roosters came as Saddleworth hung on for the victory.
