SAINTS WALM TO THE TASK
Two tries from Alex all but seals a semi-final place
Salford 4 St Helens 30 ALEX WALMSLEY scored two crucial tries after being involved in a controversial 60 seconds – as St Helens effectively sealed a Super League semi-final spot.
Only a Wigan win over Wakefield by 91 points tomorrow – coupled with a Hull defeat at Castleford tonight – would deny Saints a topfour spot.
The Saints were in seventh place when Justin Holbrook took charge from the sacked Keiron Cunningham in May and still three points adrift earlier this month.
But three straight wins has given them a late shot at a Grand Final appearance.
And new dad Walmsley – who left the recent win at Wakefield early to attend the birth of his son – played a huge part. The two major talking points of the game came within the space of a minute at the end of the first half.
Walmsley was placed on report for alleged use of the elbow while carrying the ball, leaving Jordan Walne needing a concussion test.
But the incident was not penalised and moments later Salford forward Ryan Lannon was sent off for a late, high hit on former Red Devil Theo Fages.
The home side had competed fully until that point with little to play for except pride, but were always going to struggle a man down for the remainder of the game.
They battled on manfully, but Saints eventually shook off their dogged opponents.
It was Salford who opened the scoring when Niall Evalds sliced over directly from a scrum after a mistake by Ben Barba near his own line.
But Australian full-back Barba quickly made amends, getting on the outside of Kris Welham to send Mark Percival in at the corner.
Walmsley then barged his way over just after the half-hour mark, before playing his part in the mad minute that ended with Lannon being dismissed.
Percival added the subsequent penalty to make it 12-4 at the break, but Saints failed to make their extra man count in a scoreless third quarter.
Zeb Taia eventually broke the deadlock before Walmsley scored a carbon copy second to seal matters.
And Barba rubbed salt in Salford wounds with another try late on, converted by Percival.