Leeds Rhinos overcame a half-time deficit to secure a 22-8 victory today at the AJ Bell Stadium against Salford Red Devils for their second win of the season.
Salford, who were giving a starting spot to new signing Oliver Roberts, on loan from Huddersfield, started the better of the two Chris Atkin partnering Tui Lolohea at halfback, in the absence of the suspended Kevin Brown.
And they started well, scoring two unconverted tries from Niall Evalds and Lolohea on 20 and 28 minutes, with the Rhinos waiting almost until the half-time hooter to respond, as Luke Gale converted his own try for an 8-6 scoreline at the interval.
But the second half belonged to the Rhinos, who took the lead when Harry Newman put Luke Briscoe over in the corner in the 52nd minute, with Gale unable to add the conversion.
That was the signal for more Rhinos’ points, however, as Mikolaj Oledzki blaster over from near the posts and this time Gale added the conversion to stretch the lead to eight points, which became ten points when he kicked a penalty on 60 minutes.
Ten minutes later, the Rhinos intercepted a Salford pass near their own line, and Konrad Hurrell put Jack Walker away for a superb score, with Gale unable to add the conversion as the Rhinos now led 8-22, with the Red Devils unable to get back on terms and suffering their third defeat in four matches.
Salford: Niall Evalds, Ken Sio, Kris Welham, Krisnan Inu, Rhys Williams, Tui Lolohea, Chris Atkin, Gil Dudson, Connor Jones, Luke Yates, Oliver Roberts, Pauli Pauli, Tyrone McCarthy; Subs: Ryan Lannon, Sebastine Ikahihifo, Mark Flanagan, Joey Lussick.
Tries: Evalds, Lolohea Goals:
Leeds: Jack Walker, Luke Briscoe, Harry Newman, Konrad Hurrell, Ash Handley, Rob Lui, Luke Gale, Ava Seumanufagai, Brad Dwyer, Matt Prior, Alex Mellor, James Donaldson, Cameron Smith; Subs: Richie Myler, Adam Cuthbertson, Mikolaj Oledzki, Alex Sutcliffe.
Tries: Gale, L Briscoe, Oledzki, Walker Goals: Gale 3
A full report and photos from this game will feature in Monday’s edition of League Express.
