Our Reserves were beaten by a well-established Barrow Raiders outfit at Craven Park this afternoon.
It was the first hit out for Stuart Wilkinson’s side in 2025, as his youngsters tested themselves against a well-established Championship outfit.
The Raiders had a few ex-Salford players on display, including Matt Costello and James Greenwood, whilst Kai Morgan, Nathan Connell and Charlier Glover all made the trip from Paul Rowley’s first grade squad.
It was the hosts who create the first opportunity with a series of offloads through the middle. That break was thwarted, but a Salford knock-on handed Barrow another six.
After a few drives forward, some quick hands on the right edge allowed Andrew Bulman to acrobatically dive over in the corner.
It was the same route for Barrow’s second. A strong carry from Ryan King set the platform and a looping pass out wide saw Bulman double his tally.
Barrow’s forwards were causing Salford a whole heap of problems and Tom Walker was the next to score for hosts with his powerful drive.
Ryan King bumped off a tackle from the restart to create the next Barrow break. This time it was fullback, Luke Cresswell in support to stroll under the sticks.
A Barrow mistake allowed us a first opportunity to get ball in hand, and Fin Yates went inches from scoring with his scoot from dummy-half.
It did give the team a much-need confidence boost and some off-the-cuff rugby got the Reds on the board.
Kai Morgan wriggled out of a challenge and found halfback partner, Sean Murray, who showed a neat bit of creativity to stab a grubber into the path of 17-year-old, Raffael Van Osselear, who marked his debut with a try.
Salford had recovered well from an early onslaught, but a charge down from Ellis Robson allowed the back-rower to collect the ball and race 70 metres in open field.
Set restarts were killing any Salford momentum in defence, with a fourth of the game allowing King to charge through and push Barrow through the 30-point mark.
Bulman’s hat-trick came shortly after, with all three of his tries almost identical in their execution.
The opening exchanges of the second forty were largely uneventful. Ryan Johnston came closest for the hosts when he chased down a short grubber, but a fumble gave Salford a reprieve.
He caused danger with a kick of his own minutes later, however, with Curtis Teare slamming down in the corner.
Salford showed a huge amount of resilience to repel some persistent Barrow pressure, and they got their reward with a flicker of genius from two of our three first grade players on show.
On the last, Morgan shaped to kick into the corner, but with a sharp turn of movement, angled the ball towards the sticks, where Nathan Connell was in sync to collect and slide over.
Barrow responded well and a burst up the middle allowed the supporting Cresswell to stroll under the sticks.
Late tries from Seth Woodend and Matt Costello extended the hosts’ lead, as they hit 50 in their final pre-season encounter.
However, considering the experience of the opposition, Reserves Head Coach, Stuart Wilkinson will certainly be encouraged by some elements of his sides’ first test of 2025, as they look towards their first league encounter in March.
MATCH FACTS:
Salford line-up: Nathan Connell, Joe Coope-Franklin, Billy Glover, Josh Wagstaffe, Ethan Fitzgerald, Kai Morgan, Sean Murray, Charlie Glover, Finley Yates, Bardyel Wells, Lucas Coan, John Hutchings, Jimmy Shields.
Interchanges: Harrison Hope, Josh Hopkins, Rhyley Hyde, Logan Lagar, Raffael Van Osselear.
Tries: Raffael Van Osselear, Nathan Connell.
Conversions: Kai Morgan (2/2)
Barrow Raiders line-up: Luke Cresswell, Andrew Bulman, Matt Costello, Seth Woodend, Curtis Teare, Brad Walker, Ryan Johnston, Tom Walker, Josh Wood, Razor Silva, Ellis Robson, Jarrad Stack, Ryan King.
Interchanges: Aaron Smith, Delaine Gittens-Bedward, Charlie Emslie, James Greenwood, Brett Carter, Dan Knott, Rolly Seward, Shane Toal, Trent Ruddy.
Tries: Andrew Bulman (3), Tom Walker, Luke Cresswell (2), Ellis Robson, Ryan King, Curtis Teare, Seth Woodend, Matt Costello.
Conversions: Brad Walker (7/11)
HT: 38-6
