Red Devils conquered by late Sezer penalty
SALFORD RED DEVILS 10 HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS 12
THE two defences were very much on top as Huddersfield secured a late victory over Salford at the AJ Bell Stadium.
With the scores level at 10-10 and just five minutes remaining, a Tui Lolohea dropgoal attempt drifted just wide and in the very next set, Kevin Brown appeared to strike Jordan Turner with his head in the tackle and was sent to the sin bin.
The Giants utilised the extra man advantage to march downfield and when Lee Mossop was adjudged to be interfering at the play-the-ball on his own goalline, Aidan Sezer slotted the penalty that ultimately settled the fixture.
“It was a real good arm wrestle between two teams who competed right to the very last whistle,” said Salford head coach Ian Watson.
“Kev has got his eyes down on the floor and he’s losing contact. He’s gone to get his head in tight and he’s caught Jordan Turner flush. The Match Review Panel will have a look at that, but Kev is not a dirty player who goes round just headbutting people.
“If it was just a headbutt, it would have been a dumb play by Kev.”
Shorn of Seb Ikahihifo because of the terms of his loan agreement from Huddersfield and the late withdrawal of Gil Dudson because of illness, it was always going to be tough for the Salford pack to stand up to the size the Giants have added to their group in the off-season, but it was a very even contest for the most part.
The Red Devils started the stronger, forcing back-to-back dropouts and creating the first try-scoring opportunity of the evening for Ken Sio, but star-man Sezer pulled off an incredible last-ditch tackle to force the winger into touch.
Soon after, Sio was over in the corner again but the video referee revealed his foot had found touch, while James Greenwood had to be helped from the field with an apparent concussion and did not reappear.
Giants hooker Adam O’Brien exposed some poor defensive organisation to open the scoring, capitalising on Salford having just one defender at marker, to charge over under the sticks.
On the back of excellent link-up play between Brown and Niall Evalds, Sio scored at the third time of asking, though Tui Lolohea couldn’t convert, leaving the Red Devils trailing by two at half-time.
Soon after the restart, Dan Sarginson demonstrated his trademark top footwork to cut back inside Turner and give Salford the lead, but that lasted only 10 minutes – Sezer floating a fantastic long pass over to Louis Senior, who touched down in the corner to level the scores.
In a tight closing quarter, the moment that settled the game came when Brown was sent from the field.
Defending a man light, the Red Devils struggled to contain the Giants, who despite passing up several dropgoal opportunities, slotted the winning penalty with less than two minutes remaining.