DOBBO IS DYNAMITE

SALFORD survived a huge fright to reach the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup sixth round thanks to Michael Dobson.

The Red Devils trailed twice to League One newcomers Toronto and also had Justin Carney sent off for dissent in the first half.

It needed superb leadership from scrum-half Dobson to finally kill off the underdogs and drag Ian Watson’s team to safety.

But coach Watson said he always knew his side faced trouble from the new Canadian outfit.

He said: “I never underestimate Paul Rowley’s teams. I know him really well and he is very meticulous.

“If we had taken it lightly, we would have had our bums smacked and been beaten.” Toronto have cut a swathe through the third tier in their first season, but this was a massive step up.

They faced it head on with a terrific first half, taking the lead twice with tries from Liam Kay, Quentin Laulu-Togagae and Ryan Brierley.

But the sending off of Carney – believed to be for a comment he made to Wolfpack forward Ryan Bailey – did them no favours.

Dobson took control for the home side and Toronto weirdly stopped playing their usual daredevil brand of rugby. Wolfpack coach Rowley said: “The red card was probably not a good thing for us because it altered our mindset.

“We are bold and brave when we play, so to go away from doing that is disappointing.

“The effort from our players was fantastic. We are devastated not to be in the next round.”

Salford led 18-16 at the break with tries from Kris Welham and Greg Johnson (two).

They then took a grip with second-half tries from Dobson and full-back Gareth O’Brien, before FuiFui MoiMoi grabbed a late Wolfpack consolation.

Rowley added: “We will certainly learn from this match and we will be better for it.

“It’s a reminder of where we need to be.”