WIGAN 26 SALFORD 8 MATCH REPORT
Salford arrived at Wigan in good spirits and once again coach Paul Rowley was able to name an unchanged side and a strong one at that. The only change saw Adam Sidlow named as eighteenth man in place of Andrew Dixon.
It was another fine evening weather wise as the two sides warmed up prior to kick off.
Kallum Watkins took a few knocks last Friday and his leg was heavily strapped up.
The home side were missing Tyler Dupree after a head knock but had a strong pack including Liam Byrne, Liam Farrell and Kai Pearce-Paul. Jai Field started at fullback with Bevan French and Harry Smith in the halves.
Salford had all the defending to do in the early stages and when Marc Sneyd went off in the twelfth minute holding his back the cards were starting to stack against the Red Devils.
French hit Sneyd’s replacement Chris Atkin with a tip tackle and these days those tackles seem to be frowned upon. Referee Chris Kendall didn’t seem interested until Atkin received treatment. By this time he’d seen the big screen replays and the penalty was awarded. Ryan Brierley took over the kicking duties and booted Salford in front 0-2.
As far as second row forwards go Liam Farrell is a very reliable one and his try scoring is as prolific as they come. He took a nice short pass near the line to round the Salford defenders for the games first try. Smith pulled the conversion attempt wide.
The Red Devils enjoyed a period of pressure and forced a drop out. A sloppy play the ball with no one at acting half back gifted the ball back to Wigan to frustrate the travelling supporters.
Brierley levelled the score at 4-4 with another penalty goal before Wigan were awarded a rather dubious penalty close to the Salford line. The Warriors moved the ball right and a line ball to Abbas Miski proved to slick for the cover defence. The video referee checked the grounding before the try was given. Smith’s rather erratic goal kicking continued and he pulled this one well wide.
At 8-4 Salford were still in the game but a very disappointing three minutes before the break took the game out of reach. Jake Wardle eased through some poor defending to score in the corner and Smith ironically booted the goal off the touch line.
Marc Sneyd returned to the field to boost Salford and he kicked for touch from a penalty as the clock counted down. From the next play Sneyd booted the ball in the air as the hooter sounded as Salford rolled the dice, desperately seeking some points. Field took the kick, evaded defenders and raced the length of the pitch to score a thrilling try. Smith converted and twelve points in three minutes gave Salford a mammoth task in the second half. 20-4.
The lively Chris Atkin broke through early in the second half, Brodie Croft was in support but a thrilling break was covered by the Wigan defence before the home side broke away with Liam Marshall weaving through the Salford defence.
King Vuniyayawa caught French high and referee Kendall showed the yellow card when most of the crowd were anticipating a red one. To be fair to Vuniyayawa it looked missed timed rather than malicious. French should really have been sin binned in the first half for his tackle on Atkin.
Croft worked tirelessly for the Red Devils particularly in defence and the Wigan pack continued to target Watkins but the Salford stalwart stood his ground and never gave an inch in another tip top performance.
Wigan made the extra man advantage count when Toby King raced over. Salford were very disappointing allowing the Warriors centre to improve the kicking angle as he ran untouched behind the line. Smith again converted.
Salford finally scored a nice try from Ken Sio but Sneyd failed to convert and the match fizzled out.
Defeat is a blow to Salford’s play off hopes with Hull Kingston Rovers beating Catalans last night. That result also sent Wigan to the top of the table. The Red Devils now face Warrington at home next Sunday with a lunchtime kick off and to have any chance of the top six victory is most definitely paramount.
Wigan 26 Salford 8.
Paul Whiteside.
Pictures by Steve McCormick
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