Salford RLFC 0 Castleford 22 Match Report

 

VALLIANT REDS DAMAGE LIMITATION SUCCESS

Salford RLFC 0 Castleford Tigers 22

It would be difficult to imagine two more contrasting sides than those on display in this ladies’ home league fixture with Castleford, on Sunday afternoon, with the Salford players being overshadowed by the significant physical prowess of the much more mature stature of the visitors. It was in their contrasting styles of play however, that the difference became most evident, with each team playing very much to their strengths, and both doing so extremely well.

The quite notable improvement in the teamwork of the Salford side, over the season, progressed to a new high. Their ball-handling skills has now reached the point at which they were able to dominate possession for reasonably lengthy periods in a game, in which they were so outsized by a much bigger, stronger opposition, that it became a a great asset.

The visitors for their part appeared not to feel the need for much of this, as their physical dominance was their greatest weapon on both attack and defence. The ability to burst through a couple of weaker tackles, or to exploit a gap in the opponents’ defensive line, inevitably meant that they were able to score a handful of tries by individuals working alone or in conjunction with a couple of colleagues. The fact that they were limited to a total of five touchdowns only, reflects extremely well on their hosts, who respected possession by completing their sets, thereby dominating field position for most of the game and setting up a good number of try- scoring chances. As early as the third minute they had come close to scoring in the right hand corner, and then immediately afterwards, had Alex Simpson’s end-of-set kick been slightly shorter, there were enough red shirts on the chase to have possibly secured the first points.

And this was to be the story of the game, with Salford camping in the Tigers’ thirty metre area, setting up one opportunity after another, but without the reward of the try they so deserved. Two separate darts at the Castleford line in the 14th minute were each stopped centimetres from the line, while three minutes later the referee adjudged that the Tigers’ defence had done enough to prevent Salford’s grounding of the ball for a try. In response to all this pressure, however, Castleford succeeded in crossing for tries in the 9th , 31st and 36th minutes, the last of which was converted, to register a 0-14 half-time lead.

There had been hope that the heat, in which the match was being played, might, as the game wore on, adversely affect the bigger players among the visitors, and for the third quarter of the game, it looked as though this could be the case.. For nearly twenty minutes, upon the resumption, the Reds again dominated possession and position, with Castleford being starved of the ball and unable to get out of their half.

Once again the Reds came, oh so close, to scoring on the 44th , 50th , and 57 the minutes, being denied by a last ditch tackle, a lost ball in the grounding, and being held up over the line. The water break, though, came as an unfortunate interruption to their continuous period of attack, and the visitors regrouped for the final quarter to cross for two further tries on the 64th and 73rd minutes, as the heat-sapped energy of the home players ran out.

Despite the loss, though, the Salford players should be congratulated at having stayed in the contest throughout, against all the odds. Limiting such physically strong opponents to five scores is something in which they should take pride, and the day will come, hopefully not too long down the track, when those near misses become scores, and their commitment, dedication and efforts bring them better results.

SALFORD

Izzy Woods, Chloe Lyons, Katie Roach, Eva Wilkinson, Niamh Kelly, Lily Oakley,

Alex Simpson, Lydia Elstone, Esmai Wright, Dearbhla McCoy, Katrina Blencowe,

Theresa Crookall, Jodie Morris

Interchanges

Emily Carlisle, Eva Thomas, Ataria Tabi