Salford Red Devils were beaten by Wakefield Trinity in Round 17 of the Betfred Super League.
With injuries to some key personnel, Paul Rowley was forced to shake the pack, with Ken Sio at full-back and Chris Atkin at six.
The first set was promising one, with a few half-breaks, but Trinity gained possession and seized the initiative.
Max Jowitt skipped past the line and turned on the afterburners to evade the chasing Atkin. He had Liam Kay in in support to flick a pass and stroll under the sticks.
Salford tried to respond and almost did via the creativity of Deon Cross. The centre made a nice dart through the Trinity line, but his pass to Williams – flicked on by Atkin – was behind Rhys Williams.
On 17 minutes, Will Dagger extended the lead with a penalty-goal after Marc Sneyd was penalised for dissent.
That created another period of Wakefield pressure, where Liam Hood broke the line and slipped in Dagger to slide under the posts.
The hosts were well on top and another penalty-goal from Dagger added to the woes after an infringement in the ruck.
On the stroke of half-time, Trinity scored again.
A ball steal on Burgess by Tom Lineham created the break and – despite the ankle tap – he was able to flick a pass to Reece Lyne to stroll under the sticks.
HALF-TIME: Wakefield Trinity 22-0 Salford Red Devils
Trinity came out for the second forty stronger and Dagger added two more via a penalty-goal.
They quickly added more points when Jack Croft created the numbers and slipped in Lee Kershaw to stroll over and towards the posts.
Wakefield made sure of the two points with a fourth penalty-goal a few minutes later and a tired, depleted Salford were out on their feet.
Alex Gerrard scored a consolation on his return to the team, stretching out an arm to get us on the board, but it was ultimately defeat at the Be Well Support Stadium.
FULL-TIME: Wakefield Trinity 32-6 Salford Red Devils
Photo credit: Steve McCormick
