Salford Red Devils 12 Sheffield Eagles 4
Salford Red Devils Women’s team got their season off to a fine start last Sunday, with a dominant performance over a physically strong Sheffield Eagles side, which showed the extent to which the team has been strengthened during the close season.
With a strong wind blowing down the pitch in favour of the home side in the first half, it seemed imperative that the Red Devils got themselves off to a good start, to set a tough challenge to the visitors in the second forty, with what would prove to be a winning lead.
In the event this proved to be far from the case, with the game remaining pointless right through to the half time interval. Not that there were not opportunities for them to get themselves on the scoreboard, as they dominated field position for the first twenty-five minutes, but they had reckoned without the strength of the Eagles’ defence, which constantly repulsed wave after wave of Salford attacks, with the most physical and technically effective of tackles.
In fact, the most noteworthy incident of the half was a superb relieving end-of-set kick by the returning Louise Fellingham, after a rare Sheffield foray into the Reds’ twenty-metre area.
Admittedly, the wind was a factor in this, but from no further than twenty-five metres out, she had the fullback chasing back to retrieve the ball close to the Eagles’ line.
As the half wore on, so the momentum of the game changed as the visitors got more and more possession, and in much better field position so that the Salford players were forced back more, on the defensive – an ominous signal, with the change of ends looming.
Far from that, however, the half time discussions seemed to benefit the Red Devils rather than Sheffield, as they swept into the attack from the restart.
The stalemate was eventually broken on 46 minutes, when replacement hooker, Holly Waddington, broke through the Eagles’ defensive line, and, as her progress was eventually halted, she handed the ball on to the supporting Fellingham, and the stand-off crossed for a converted try, on the right-hand side.
Nine minutes later, the lead was doubled when debutant fullback, Anna Dennis, took total control of the situation. In fairness, she had been quite outstanding throughout the whole of the first half, carrying the ball forward into the Eagles defence, and invariably winning each and every tackle, whether on attack or defence.
This time she got the ball at first receiver, twenty metres out, and set off on a tricky mazey run, with a mixture of side-steps and swerves, to cross between the posts.
Having already landed the goal to Fellingham’s try, this one, to her own, was simple and straightforward, and although a mere twelve-point lead could never be regarded as a winning one, the determining factor from this point on was always going to be the Salford defence. The longer they were able to prevent the Eagles from scoring, the less likely they would become to do so.
And this proved to be the case, as the Reds held firm until twelve minutes from the end when a couple of back-to-back sets gave Sheffield sufficient opportunity to force an overlap on the right edge and register an unconverted try.
As for the possibility of their extending this further, it was in fact the Red Devils who came closest to a further score when Lily Gray was denied in the corner by the desperate Sheffield cover defence, and the home side held on for a convincing win.
SALFORD
Anna Dennis, Lauren Ellison, Bethany Cox, Alex Simpson, Lily Gray, Louise Fellingham, Ellie Costello, Emily Bagguley, Tamzin Corcoran, Sophie Morris, Stephanie Gray, Jadine McVernon, Maddison Price
Interchanges
Holly Waddington, Lydia Egan, Kayleigh Bradshaw, Yasmin Parton-Sotomayor
18th Player Marnie-Lee Kelly
