Salford throw off the shackles in cup win
Marshall hails attacking prowess after his first win in charge
SALFORD RED DEVILS 68 WIDNES VIKINGS 4
SALFORD have the opportunity to continue their recent strong relationship with the Challenge Cup after overcoming Widnes Vikings to book their spot in the fourth round.
After scoring just two tries in their opening two Super League fixtures, there was a marked improvement in the Salford attack as they crossed for 12 four-pointers, albeit against an injury-hit, part-time Vikings side.
“From an offensive point of view, I thought we ironed out a few of our issues from the last few weeks, but defensively we probably didn’t – we conceded before half-time again, which we’re not happy about,” said coach Richard Marshall, celebrating his first win in charge.
“We scored some wonderful points, although it was against a Championship team. You’ve still got to score, you’ve still got to make breaks, you’ve still got to offload.
“We bombed a few as well if I’m being hypercritical. I thought we were loose in the first half. We went and chased the points, instead of building pressure and being a little bit more patient.
“We knew we’d get a couple of opportunities, but having the guile and the foresight to get tackled and then get the opposition on the next one, we didn’t get that balance right in the first half. Second half, we did and as a result of that, we scored a handful of points.”
On their return to the AJ Bell Stadium, the Red Devils started the contest at a fierce pace that it was always going to be difficult for their opponents to match. Jack Ormondroyd and Pauli Pauli were impressive, but it was the debutants in the backline that put Marshall’s men into a commanding lead.
Morgan Escare demonstrated his trademark speedy support play and pushed up after a powerful Ormondroyd break to score the opening try, before Matt Costello crossed twice in just three minutes.
Just before half-time, Tui Lolohea finished off another break from deep, but it was the Vikings who got the final score of the first period through Danny Hill, 18, on debut.
The Red Devils resumed after the break in much the same fashion, Dec Patton capping a good showing at hooker with a scoot from dummyhalf to score. The ex-Warrington man then shifted into his preferred halfback position as Lolohea was rested, Andy Ackers coming on at nine and instantly showing his quality; collecting an offload, dummying twice and charging over.
Seb Ikahihifo, Kallum Watkins and Ormondroyd went over in succession to get the tries their performances deserved, before Ackers set Rhys Williams free down the wing to cross.
Costello had the chance to push for his hat-trick late on, but turned it back inside to Escare to grab his second and Ackers set up another for Chris Atkin with the final move of the match.