Salford Red Devils’ winning run was ended at the hands of Catalans Dragons this afternoon.
Head Coach, Paul Rowley named an unchanged side for this one, with star centres Nene Macdonald and Tim Lafai still missing through injury.
The Reds got off to a positive start, with some strong hit-ups from Loghan Lewis, Shane Wright and Brad Singleton restricting the Dragons’ metres.
It led to our first attacking set, deep in Catalans territory, with Lewis almost creating a try-scoring opportunity via a half-break.
Ex-Red Devil, Theo Fages was starting at halfback for Catalans, and it was his chipped kick which created the first try of the contest.
Attacking the short side, a scuffed effort bounced kindly for Tom Davies and he played a ball back inside for Cesar Rougé to go over.
An identical route almost produced the same results a minute later, but Matt Ikuvalu was offside from Fages’ initial kick.
It was only a brief reprieve for Salford, however, with Fages finding Fouad Yaha on the left, who stabbed another kick back inside for Arthur Romano to score.
The Reds had to regroup and Marc Sneyd was trying to conduct proceedings with his kicking game. No real chances arose and Catalans continued to ramp up the pressure via a series of offloads.
Ben Garcia managed to muscle his way out of the tackle and flick a pass to Rougé, who stabbed a grubber into the left corner for Romano to score his second of the game.
Catalans’ 18-point advantage was extended by two more points shortly after the interval.
Shane Wright was high on Garcia and Arthur Mourgue – perfect with the kicking tee throughout the contest – nailed the conversion from 40 out.
The rest of the contest was a real struggle for both sides, with errors aplenty. Salford did repeatedly get themselves into promising positions, but lack real quality in the final execution.
They’ll have to pick themselves up and go again in just under a weeks’ time when we make the trip to face Huddersfield Giants, for the second time at the John Smith’s in 2024.
MATCH FACTS:
Salford line-up: Ryan Brierley, Ethan Ryan, Chris Hankinson, Sam Stone, Deon Cross, Chris Atkin, Marc Sneyd, Brad Singleton, Joe Mellor, Loghan Lewis, Shane Wright, Kallum Watkins, Ollie Partington.
Interchanges: Amir Bourouh, King Vuniyayawa, Joe Shorrocks, Gil Dudson.
Catalans Dragons line-up: Arthur Mourgue, Tom Davies, Arthur Romano, Matt Ikuvalu, Fouad Yaha, Cesar Rougé, Theo Fages. Romain Navarrete, Micky McIlorum, Julian Bousquet, Tariq Sims, Bayley Sironen, Ben Garcia.
Interchanges: Paul Seguier, Alriz Da Costa, Chris Satae, Jordan Dezaria.
Tries: Cesar Rougé, Arthur Romano (2)
Conversions: Arthur Mourgue (4/4)
HT: 18-0
Photo credit: Steve McCormick
