Leeds Rhinos, back at Headingley, recorded a comfortable 20-0 victory over Salford Red Devils in tough conditions.
Leeds started the strongest and were on the board after six minutes through Tom Briscoe after a sweeping backline move. The Rhinos added a further try on 20 minutes when Niall Evalds spilled the ball in the in-goal for Ash Handley to touch down.
Kallum Watkins extended Leeds’ lead by two to 12-0 with a penalty with two to go till the break.
Another Watkins penalty pushed Leeds out to a three-score lead mid-way through the second half as Leeds pushed to kill the game. They did just that late on when Josh Walters crossed for the Rhinos for his first Rhinos try since 2016.
Rhinos: Golding, Briscoe, Watkins, Handley, Hall, Moon, Myler, Delaney, Parcell, Singleton, Ward, Ablett, Walters; Interchanges: Ferres, Smith, Oledzki, Dwyer
Tries: Briscoe, Handley, Walters; Goals: Watkins 4
Red Devils: Evalds, Bibby, Welham, Sa’u, Olpherts, Lui, Wood, Nakubuwai, Tomkins, Griffin, Jones, Burgess, Murray; Interchanges: Littlejohn, Hauraki, Tasi, Lannon
