Salford Red Devils 14 Dewsbury Moor 12 Match Report
A magnificent, last minute, try saving tackle, by Salford fullback, Alex Simpson, put paid to the last gasp chance for visitors, Dewsbury, as their right winger, swept away and into the clear from within her own half then on to the home twenty metre line, in the ladies’ game, which was the first of last Sunday’s Double Header.
She had reckoned without the determination, however, of the Salford skipper, who had produced a real captain’s performance throughout the encounter, with her leadership skills clearly evident, alongside her ability to deal with end-of-set kicks and high bombs, returning each with far greater yardage than anyone could ever have expected, whilst picking appropriate moments to join the attacking line, and invariably to be found in the midst of any defending which needed to be done.
How fitting, therefore, that it should be she, who was to deliver that bone crunching crash tackle which saw the pair of them taken completely over the touch line, fifty seconds before the final whistle.
That the result was to hinge on that, however, would have seemed most surprising to anyone at the start of the game, with the Red Devils taking control from the outset, and it was as early as the third minute that prop Emily Bagguley powered over the Dewsbury line, only to lose the ball in the midst of defenders, in her attempt to ground it. Indeed, she was to prove to be a tower of strength in the Salford pack right through both her stints. with some tremendous hit-ups, not to mention her contribution to the defence.
She was more than ably supported by second rower, Jadine McVernon, who has always made notable contributions to games, even when helping out the team by moving to play centre. Last Sunday, she really did herself proud, particularly in the opening stages, when, on numerous occasions, the angles and lines, she chose to run, saw her then surging through gaps that had been hardly noticeable before, and then making fine progress up-field.
As for scoring potency, this was provided by the Salford right edge, comprising of Michelle Davis, Grace Wray, and Marnie-Lee Kelly, with all three Salford tries coming from various combinations of those players.
The opening score came in the eleventh minute, when, with the Reds in possession twenty metres out, Davis got the ball at first receiver, fed Simpson who had joined the line to provide the extra player, and she then put Wray through, with the centre having the composure to go round to score between the posts ensuring a straight forward conversion for Sam Evans who completed the acquisition of the full six points.
Even though the home side continued to dominate, they could not find their way to extending their lead further, and surprisingly enough it turned out to be the visitors, on 18 mins, who ended up drawing level as a result of gaining three repeat sets, and finally working an overlap on their right, to which they added the conversion.
Five minutes from half time, however, slick handling from a scrum, via Evans, Davis, and Wray, effectively put winger Kelly in at the corner, to restore the Salford lead, and produce a10-6 half-time score.
If there were one aspect of Red Devils performance which had really let them down throughout the first forty mins, it had been their propensity to concede penalties in abundance, and this continued at the start of the second half with Yorkshire side being awarded no less than four back-to-back penalties giving them five consecutive sets-of-six.
Nevertheless, it was Salford who were next to score. That prolific, individual try scoring machine, which is Michelle Davis, had hitherto had, for her, a relatively quiet game, contenting herself with organising and controlling events, alongside instigating, or involving herself, in the two moves which had brought the tries.
All that changed on 55 mins, when she positioned herself behind the line at the final play-the-ball of a set to shoot through a small gap she had espied, catching the defence out cold, and fending off the one sole attempt to tackle her, with a force that floored the defender, before she romped over in the corner to extend the score to 14-6.
This proved to be an absolutely vital four points, with Dewsbury’s narrowing of the gap to a mere two points, fifteen minutes from the end, motivating the whole Salford team, which had worked together so effectively on defence for the previous 65 minutes, to continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with one another, thereby keeping their line intact, right through to Alex Simpson’s final, telling intervention.
SALFORD
Alex Simpson, Marnie-Lee Kelly, Grace Wray, Becki Davies, Lily Gray, Michelle Davis, Sam Evans, Summer Harris, Alice Connolly, Emily Bagguley, Tina Millan, Jadine McVernon, Sophie Morris
Interchanges
Abi Collins, Emerald Hickey, Darcy Price, Lydia Egan
