London Broncos gave themselves a great boost today at the Trailfinders ground with a stunning 11-8 over Qualifiers pacemakers Salford Red Devils to put themselves firmly in line for a possible place in the Million Pound Game, possibly against the Toronto Wolfpack.
It was the Broncos’ second victory in the Qualifiers, while the Red Devils, who were again without the suspended Jackson Hastings, suffered their second successive defeat. They will now need to beat Toulouse Olympique on Thursday night at the A J Bell Stadium to be assured of their place in Super League next season, while the Broncos now have a winnable final game at home against Halifax next Saturday.
The Broncos took a 9-0 interval lead, after an early penalty from Jarrod Sammut tho also converted a try from Jay Pitts in the thirteenth minute. They looked to go further ahead when Sammut intercepted and touched down, but referee Scott Mikalauskas disallowed it for offside. But he was more successful with a field-goal attempt on 34 minutes to complete the first-half scoring.
The Red Devils had to wait until the 57th minute to get their first points on the board, when a fine passing movement saw Kris Welham feed Greg Johnson for a try in the corner, which Joey Lussick couldn’t convert.
The Broncos appeared to clinch victory when Sammut added a penalty on 74 minutes for offside, but the Red Devils took a short kick-off and Niall Evalds fed Johnson for his second try, but this time Ed Chamberlain couldn’t convert and the Red Devils tried to snatch a late victory but finally ran out of time.
Broncos: 14 Alex Walker, 5 Kieran Dixon, 3 Ben Hellewell, 1 Elliot Kear, 2 Rhys Williams, 12 Jay Pitts, 7 Jarrod Sammut, 18 Ben Evans, 13 Matt Davis, 10 Mark Ioane, 16 Matty Gee, 26 Daniel Hindmarsh, 15 Eddie Battye; Subs: 8 Tom Spencer, 19 Sadiq Adebiyi, 23 Robert Butler, 30 Eloi Pelissier.
Try: Pitts; Goals: Sammut 3; Field Goal: Sammut
Red Devils: 5 Niall Evalds, 2 Greg Johnson, 3 Kris Welham, 29 Ed Chamberlain, 24 Jake Bibby, 6 Rob Lui, 7 Jack Littlejohn, 30 Greg Burke, 32 Joey Lussick, 18 Luke Burgess, 11 Josh Jones, 17 Tyrone McCarthy, 15 Ryan Lannon; Subs: 8 Craig Kopczak, 13 Mark Flanagan, 18 Ben Nakubuwai, 33 Jansin Turgut.
Tries: Johnson 2
A full report and photos from this game will feature in Monday’s edition of League Express, available at all good newsagents and can be downloaded digitally.