Salford Red Devils gained an emotional 22-0 victory over Castleford Tigers tonight to proceed to the last three standing in Super League.
The Red Devils secured an early 12-0 lead with tries from Tyrone McCarthy, who touched down a Tui Lolohea grubber on eleven minutes, with Krisnan Inu converting, and Jake Bibby touching down in the corner with the referee Ben Thaler recommending a try to video referee Robert Hicks, who spent a long time deciding whether Greg Minikin had pushed him into touch before awarding the try, with Inu again converting to put the Red Devils firmly in command on 14 minutes.
The Tigers were struggling to get into the game on a wet night, but their large following were convinced that Jordan Rankin, who broke from deep, was going to touch down in the corner on 24 minutes, before Salford fullback Niall Evalds came out of nowhere to stop him just before the line and turn him over into touch for what is possibly the Super League tackle of the season.
And five minutes later Inu increased the lead to 14-0 when he kicked a penalty.
In the second half Salford maintained their grip on the game but neither side was able to score before another key moment in the game, when Castleford stand-off Jake Trueman attempted a 40-20 that just went out on the full, and within 90 seconds Jackson Hastings was able to glide through the Tigers’ defence to touch down for the Red Devils’ third try in front of their adoring supporters. Inu added the conversion and a penalty on the hooter for a 22-0 victory.
Red Devils: Niall Evalds, Ken Sio, Kris Welham, Krisnan Inu, Jake Bibby, Tui Lolohea, Jackson Hastings, Lee Mossop, Logan Tomkins, Gil Dudson, Josh Jones, George Griffin, Tyrone McCarthy; Subs: Joey Lussick, Mark Flanagan, Adam Walker, Greg Burke
Tries: McCarthy, Bibby, Hastings; Goals: Inu 5
Tigers: Jordan Rankin, James Clare, Greg Minikin, Cheyse Blair, Greg Eden, Jake Trueman, Peter Mata’utia, Liam Watts, Paul McShane, Grant Millington, Oliver Holmes, Chris Clarkson, Nathan Massey; Subs: Adam Milner, Matt Cook, Jacques O’Neill, Daniel Smith
A full match report with photos and comments from this game will feature in the next edition of League Express