Salford Red Devils secured their second successive victory in the Qualifiers today, when they defeated Widnes Vikings 32-6 at the A J Bell Stadium.
Widnes opened the scoring in the third minute when Ed Chamberlain dropped a Liam Finn kick and the Vikings quickly transferred the ball to Charly Runciman, who touched down for a try that Krisnan Inu converted for a 0-6 lead.
The Red Devils replied with two tries to Junior Sa’u in the 17th and 21st minute, following good work from the Salford halfback combination of Robert Lui and Jackson Hastings. Chamberlain converted both for a 12-6 lead.
But the Red Devils suffered a blow on 35 minutes when Joey Lussick was sinbinned for an alleged crusher tackle on Inu. The Vikings were unable to take advantage before the break, however, and they suffered a blow of their own when promising fullback Olly Ashall-Bott was taken from the field with a knee injury just before the break, not to return.
In the second half the Red Devils gradually pulled away, with further tries to Robert Lui, Niall Evalds and Mark Flanagan, with Chamberlain adding three conversions and a penalty.
The Vikings suffered their second successive defeat, while the Red Devils will go into the remaining five rounds of the Qualifiers confident of avoiding the Million Pound Game.
Salford: Niall Evalds, Ed Chamberlain, Kris Welham, Junior Sa’u, Derrell Olpherts, Rob Lui, Jackson Hastings, Lee Mossop, Josh Wood, Lama Tasi, Josh Jones, Ryan Lannon, Mark Flanagan; Subs: Craig Kopczak, Ben Nakubuwai, Greg Burke, Joey Lussick.
Tries: Sa’u 2, Lui, Evalds, Flanagan; Goals: Chamberlain 6
Widnes: Olly Ashall-Bott, Patrick Ah Van, Krisnan Inu, Matt Whitley, Charly Runciman, Joe Mellor, Liam Finn, Harrison Hansen, Aaron Heremaia, Gil Dudson, Chris Dean, Chris Houston, Weller Hauraki; Subs: Lloyd White, Alex Gerrard, Tom Olbison, MacGraff Leuluai.
Tries: Runciman; Goals: Inu
A full report and photos from this game will feature in Monday’s League Express, which is available at all good newsagents and online at www.totalrl.com from 9.30pm on Sunday evening.