The Salford Red Devils got back to winning ways with a 32-24 win against the Widnes Vikings.
The Devils came into the game looking to get back to winning ways following a disappointing result the week before against Warrington.
The Devils were boosted by the return of Justin Carney who had missed the previous two games with a suspension. Olsi Krasniqi and Niall Evalds also returned to side for the trip to the Select Security Stadium.
Salford made a fantastic start to game, getting on the score board first through Mason Caton-Brown, who finished off a fantastic break way move to give the Devils the lead 3 minutes in.
The hosts hit back and put pressure on the Salford line, but the Reds defence was resolute, holding out against several consecutive repeat sets.
Widnes would eventually cross, Winger Matt Whitley picked a good line and went over, with the scores being levelled by the successful conversion.
The game developed into an even affair with both teams using their forwards to good effect, but it would be Salford who scored next, Carney marking his return from suspension with a try in the corner.
Again Widnes came back strong, and Patrick Ah Van scored in the corner, to leave the scores level at 12-12 at half time.
The second half started off in cagey fashion, but Salford blew the game wide open with a fantastic try. Magic hands from Rob Lui gave Caton-Brown space, and the winger raced 60 metres to score his second of the night.
Following a couple of breaks in play for injuries, Widnes got themselves back into the game with a second Try for Whitley, who exposed a gap in the Salford defence to score.
The scores weren’t level for long however, as brilliant play for Michael Dobson put Josh Jones over for Salford to put the Red Devils ahead again.
Both teams were reduced to twelve men following a coming together between the two sides, Craig Kopczak and Jack Buchanan both saw yellows and were sent to the sin bin. O’Brien kicked the resulting penalty to give Salford a 6 point lead.
Two minutes later O’Brien would add two more points with a penalty from a similar place to give Salford an 8 point lead.
The Vikings came back strong and were back in the game following a Corey Thompson try in the corner to reduce the deficit to 2 points with just 3 minutes left on the clock.
Salford would go onto to seal the win, Mason Caton-Brown capped off a fantastic hat-trick by scoring in the corner to give Salford a 32-24 win.
The win gives Salford much needed momentum as we approach the the Middle 8 section of the season.
Salford Red Devils: O’Brien, Carney, Jones, Sa’u, Caton-Brown, Lui, Dobson, Kopczak, Tomkins, G.Griffin, Murdoch-Masila, Jones, Flanagan, Krasniqi, Hauraki, Kenny, Evalds.
