Salford Red Devils were beaten by Castleford Tigers at the Jungle this evening.
Paul Rowley recalled David Nofoaluma into the starting line-up, with Amir Bourouh also replacing Joe Mellor at hooker.
Looking for a fifth win of the Betfred Super League season, Salford started on the front foot and notched the first points of the contest via a Marc Sneyd penalty-goal.
It wasn’t long until we were on the board again, with the in-form Ryan Brierley supporting a nice line break by Deon Cross to receive and stroll over.
Marc Sneyd added the extras to make it 0-8, but the momentum soon shifted in Cas’ favour.
Shifting the play left, Jack Broadbent found Innes Senior, who received the ball and shrugged off Cade Cust to make a break.
An ankle tap from Ryan Brierley tripped the winger, but with no other retreating Salford body nearby, Senior was able to regain his balance and go over.
Things for worse for the Red Devils when Amir Bourouh was sent to the sin bin for a dangerous lift; and the hosts capitalised just minutes later.
Another penalty placed Cas in prime position to hurt Salford’s defensive line, and it was Sam Hall who made the bust up the middle to crash over.
Sneyd was trying to wrestle back control and started to complete sets with smart kicks into touch, maybe with Bourouh’s sin-binning in mind.
However, from the next set, Liam Horne’s line break proved crucial. His neat offload to Namo was quickly closed down, but a quick play-the-ball and a chipped kick into the corner from Jacob Miller found Senior for his second of the night.
Salford got back into the contest just before the break, with Tim Lafai on the end of a nice passage of play involving Joe Shorrocks, Sneyd and Brierley to go over unopposed.
Sneyd narrowed the deficit to just four with his conversion, but big changes were certainly needed in the second forty.
That period was started in emphatic fashion, with Nene Macdonald racing 70 metres to score a stunning individual try in front of the travelling Salford faithful.
We went further in front a few minutes later, with Shorrocks this time the architect of a quick bust up the middle.
He was stopped by Broadbent, but managed to find a pass to the supporting Brierley, who slid over in the left corner.
However, Sneyd, for the first time this season, dragged his kick wide, ending an incredible run of 35 consecutive conversions.
In almost a carbon copy of the first-half, the game flipped on its head following a break from Senior.
He received the ball on halfway, skipped past a few Salford challenges before crossing for his hat-trick.
That was quickly followed by another breakaway try, this time from Brad Martin, who burst up the middle and crashed over the scrambling Brierley to score.
A penalty-goal further added to Salford’s woes and made it a two-score contest, before Senior made sure of the points by scoring his fourth.
There’s now a weeks’ break for Rowley’s men before we return to Betfred Super League action with a trip to newly-promoted London Broncos in Round 8.
MATCH FACTS:
Salford line-up: Ryan Brierley, David Nofoaluma, Nene Macdonald, Tim Lafai, Deon Cross, Cade Cust, Marc Sneyd, Jack Ormondroyd, Amir Bourouh, Shane Wright, Kallum Watkins, Sam Stone, Oliver Partington.
Interchanges: King Vuniyayawa, Chris Atkin, Joe Shorrocks, Joe Mellor.
Tries: Ryan Brierley (2), Nene Macdonald, Tim Lafai.
Conversions: Marc Sneyd (4/5)
Castleford Tigers line-up: Jack Broadbent, Josh Simm, Josh Hodson, Sam Wood, Innes Senior, Danny Richardson, Jacob Miller, Sam Hall, Liam Horne, Liam Watts, Alex Mellor, Elie El Zakhem, Joe Westerman.
Interchanges: Sylvester Namo, Brad Martin, Samy Kibula, Cain Robb.
Tries: Innes Senior (4), Brad Martin, Sam Hall
Conversions: Danny Richardson (6/7)
HT: 18-14
Photo credit: Steve McCormick & James Giblin.
