Referee James Child created the biggest talking point from the opening game of the Magic Weekend, when he dismissed Darrell Griffin after 39 minutes for a reckless high tackle on young Widnes forward Matt Whitley.
The Vikings were 20-4 ahead at that point, and, although the Red Devils fought back valiantly in the second half, the Vikings were able to press home their advantage to win 38-16.
The game had started brightly for the Red Devils, when Ben Jones-Bishop had a touchline gallop, somehow avoiding going into touch and passing inside to Junior Sa’u, who stood up in the tackle before offloading to Cory Paterson, who went over for the try.
But the Vikings then imposed themselves and scored four first-half tries, with two from Patrick Ah Van, one from Danny Galea and one from captain and man of the match Kevin Brown, with Jack Owens kicking two goals for a 20-4 half-time scoreline.
Brown scored his second early in the second half after a break by Willie Isa and Owens’ goal stretched the lead to 22 points.
But the Red Devils fought back valiantly, with Greg Johnson scoring and then Jones-Bishop picking up a Widnes spilled ball to score, with Josh Griffin adding goals to both tries.
But that was as good as it got for Salford, as Brown scored his third try, and Stefan Marsh completed the tryscoring, with Owens adding both goals.
With two minutes to go referee Child gave yellow cards to Cameron Phelps and Josh Griffin for fighting.
A full report and photos from this game will feature in Monday’s edition of Rugby League Express.
