Salford Red Devils were well-beaten by Leigh Leopards at Magic Weekend.
Two early yellow cards ultimately cost Paul Rowley’s side, with the physicality of a hungry Leopards side slowly breaking down a spirited Salford defence.
Tim Lafai returned to the starting thirteen, with Shane Wright and Joe Mellor the only other two changes.
A frantic first five minutes saw errors aplenty. Perhaps a key decision came when Ryan Brierley was penalised for trying to flick back an offload when being hurdled into touch.
It allowed the Leopards some vital field position and Edwin Ipape spotted a gap on play two to scoot from dummy-half, and scramble over just right of the sticks.
Multiple Salford bodies forced a GLDO from the restart after Marc Sneyd’s deep kick, but trying to move the ball quickly, Joe Mellor was penalised for a forward pass.
From the next set, Leigh broke down the left and Ethan Ryan caught Ricky Leutele high – the first Red Devils player to be sent to the sin-bin.
Just five minutes later, Brad Singleton was also sent for 10 minutes following a high shot on Gareth O’Brien.
With numbers on both edges, the Leopards went off-the-cuff trying to move around a tired Salford defence, but the Reds showed good spirit to keep them out and force an error.
It wasn’t long, however, that Leigh struck from deep. Umyla Hanley made a bust up the middle and was just too quick for the covering Brierley to score in the corner.
The rest of the half – with Ryan and Singleton returning to the action – was very attritional, with both sides going set-for-set, but not making much progress.
Returning for a big second forty, with work to do, Sneyd was trying to create problems with his kicking game on last plays.
One almost got Salford on the board when Nene Macdonald batted the ball back to Kallum Watkins, but the skipper was just caught when attempting to scurry towards the line.
Back down the other end, a high shot from Partington allowed Zak Hardaker to tag on a penalty-goal and make it a three-score game – two points which may have put the game beyond Salford.
O’Brien broke the line on the hour mark and looked certain to confirm the two points, but an excellent, last-ditch tackle from Chris Hankinson caused the stand-in halfback to spill the ball.
As ever, there was no lack of spirit from the Reds, but nothing really clicked in attack and Hardaker scored with five minutes to play after a line break by Ipape.
With the game gone and a tired Salford team feeling the effects of the period with 11-men, Ricky Leutele extended Leigh’s lead in the corner.
Rowley’s men will have to pick themselves up and bounce back for next Saturday’s crucial clash with Huddersfield Giants at the Salford Stadium.
MATCH FACTS:
Salford line-up: Ryan Brierley, Ethan Ryan, Nene Macdonald, Tim Lafai, Deon Cross, Jayden Nikorima, Marc Sneyd, Brad Singleton, Joe Mellor, Shane Wright, Sam Stone, Kallum Watkins, Ollie Partington.
Interchanges: Joe Shorrocks, Chris Hankinson, Loghan Lewis, Joe Bullock.
Leigh Leopards line-up: Zak Hardaker, Darnell McIntosh, Umyla Hanley, Ricky Leutele, Keenan Brand, Gaz O’Brien, Lachlan Lam, Tom Amone, Edwin Ipape, Robbie Mulhern, Kai O’Donnell, Frankie Halton, John Asiata.
Interchanges: Jack Hughes, Owen Trout, Brad Dwyer, Aaron Pene.
Tries: Edwin Ipape, Umyla Hanley, Zak Hardaker, Ricky Leutele.
Conversions: Zak Hardaker (5/5)
HT: 12-0
Photo credit: James Giblin
