WARRINGTON WOLVES 12 SALFORD RED DEVILS 25
KASEY SMITH, Halliwell Jones Stadium, Friday
ROCK-BOTTOM Salford gained a rare win over a woeful Warrington whose play-off hopes are surely now dead and buried.
The youthful Red Devils played with exuberance, buoyed by a wall of red shirts behind the sticks, with the game at times feeling like a Salford home match.
The Wolves had no answer, leaving serious questions about how this side has gone from reaching the semi-finals last year to this.
After a terrible performance against Huddersfield, Burgess handed out three debuts with Marc Sneyd, Sam Stone, Lachlan Fitzgibbon, Ben Currie and James Harrison all out of the side, yet there was little response.
It is worth mentioning they faced a Salford side who have, so far, used 71 players with more debuts given to Jack Walker and Jack Croft.
Warrington’s attack looked blunt, underlined by the fact that Salford conceded four first-half penalties and spilled possession several times – yet the Wolves could muster only two tries. Dufty, who was constantly drifting laterally in search of options, cut a frustrated figure.
Justin Sangaré set the tone from the very first carry, offloading immediately to signal Salford’s intent. It was a tactic that often paid dividends for Super League’s bottom side, who had little to lose.
This Red Devils side featured several players with a point to prove – and others eager to put themselves in the shop window – many of whom rose to the occasion with impressive performances.
A straightforward Dufty dummy opened the scoring for Warrington, giving them an early 6-0 lead, but it was Salford whose confidence grew.
Having won a goal-line drop-out, the Red Devils made the pressure pay when Jack Darbyshire ducked under Dufty’s swinging arm to peg the Wolves back, with Rowan Milnes levelling from the boot.
After a bizarre captain’s challenge — one that Warrington won but somehow still left Salford with possession — Sangaré, positioned with his back to the goal-line, pounced on a loose ball from a towering kick. He gathered, spun, and grounded to score as Salford took the lead just after the half-hour mark.
Whatever Sam Burgess said at half-time — after his side was booed off — clearly had some effect, as Warrington came out firing. But much like the first half, it was short-lived.
Jake Thewlis finished off a precise cross-field kick from Leon Hayes – who marked his first appearance for Warrington since April of last year – and his brother Josh added the conversion to level the scores.
Salford regained control after producing one of the most eye-catching tries you will witness as they shifted it from side to side. Nathan Connell was unleashed down the wing to ping a perfectly timed cross-field kick and Gorman gathered it cleanly, offloading to Sangaré who did the rest.
With Warrington down to 12 men after Adam Holroyd was sin-binned for a high tackle, Salford struck through Tiaki Chan.
Milnes sealed the win with a crucial one-pointer eight minutes from time, delivering a rare moment of celebration for a Salford side that has had little to cheer about this year.
GAMESTAR: Justin Sangaré was unplayable for the Red Devils and he got his reward, scoring two tries.
GAMEBREAKER: A drop-goal by Rowan Milnes – whose kicking game was top notch by the way – sealed the win against a Warrington side which imploded.
HIGHLIGHT REEL: Justin Sangaré‘s second score is well worth a watch back on the highlights.
ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Justin Sangaré (Salford)
2 pts Rowan Milnes (Salford)
1 pt Jack Walker (Salford)
MATCHFACTS
WOLVES
1 Matt Dufty
2 Josh Thewlis
3 Toby King
42 James Duffy (D)
28 Jake Thewlis
6 George Williams
7 Leon Hayes
27 Luke Thomas
9 Danny Walker
13 Luke Yates
41 Ewan Smith (D)
21 Adam Holroyd
40 Ryan Matterson
Subs (all used)
14 Sam Powell
15 Joe Philbin
24 Max Wood
39 Tom McKinney (D)
18th man (not used)
34 Ben Hartill
Also in 21-man squad
19 Stefan Ratchford
31 Alfie Johnson
35 Marc Sneyd
Tries: Dufty (3), Jake Thewlis (44)
Goals: Josh Thewlis 2/2
Sin bin: Holroyd (55) – high tackle
RED DEVILS
70 Jack Walker (D)
65 Neil Tchamambe
64 Jack Darbyshire
66 Louix Gorman
28 Nathan Connell
69 Rowan Milnes
9 Joe Mellor
16 Loghan Lewis
21 Sam Davis
19 Justin Sangaré
67 Leon Ruan
52 Dan Russell
24 Harvey Wilson
Subs (all used)
6 Jayden Nikorima
30 Tiaki Chan
50 Toby Warren
71 Jack Croft (D)
18th man (not used)
72 Isaac Shaw
Also in 21-man squad
27 Kai Morgan
29 Charlie Glover
57 Declan Murphy
Tries: Darbyshire (17), Sangaré (31, 52), Chan (60)
Goals: Milnes 4/4
Field-goals: Milnes (72)
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 6-6, 6-12; 12-12, 12-18, 12-24, 12-25
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Wolves: Leon Hayes; Red Devils: Justin Sangaré
Penalty count: 5-5
Half-time: 6-12
Referee: Scott Mikalauskas
Attendance: 9,441