For going on fifty-five minutes, this game seemed designed to be the epitome of what the RFL probably had in mind when they introduced the seeded third round draw, in which Super League clubs are now required to travel to the home of a lower league, or even amateur club, at their start on the road to Wembley.
Back in the day, when there was absolutely no seeding whatsoever, highly fancied clubs could be taken completely by surprise, and consequently become unstuck at the unwelcoming home of a little-known side for whom they had possibly under prepared.
Not that any of that was in evidence in yesterday’s encounter with Midlands Hurricanes, at the highly impressive Alexander Stadium, but the League 1 side did indeed surpass many people’s expectations, for that lengthy period, which lasted almost fifteen minutes into the second half. As for the visiting Red Devils, there was certainly no element of surprise at any of that, and they performed with the utmost professionalism throughout the contest.
Playing with a commitment that would have graced any professional outfit, the Hurricanes matched that with skill, enthusiasm and energy, which was accurately reflected in their mere two-point half-time deficit. With a considerable amount of possession, gained as a result of not only a high completion rate but also good endings to those sets, they were able to launch waves of attacks, which drew the Reds into rather more defending than they might have hoped for.
Twice, as a result, in the first half, the Hurricanes were able to come back from the setbacks of two converted Salford tries from Nene Macdonald and Chris Hankinson, with two of their own, the first of which drew them level, and the second of which brought up that 10-12 half-time scoreline.
They even had cause to rue their scotching of a heaven-sent opportunity, on 21 mins, when they were unable to control the grounding of the ball from an immaculate kick into the in-goal area. The Red Devils’ ensuing seven-tackle set then saw Chris Hankinson, who impressed with his goal kicking, adding the conversion to his own try, thus completing what the Midlands players will have regarded as a twelve-point whammy.
Macdonald’s second try, following Chris Atkin’s great break, at the very start of the second forty, was immediate evidence of a major shift in the equilibrium of the game, putting Salford two scores ahead for the first time.
The killer punch, however, came on 54 mins, when Jayden Nikorima was first to take a Hurricanes’ end-of-set kick and motored over seventy metres to score the first of his tries. It will have delighted the travelling Salford contingent that throughout the whole of the game he had shown signs of continuing the impressive run of form which he had produced in the later stages of last season.
From that point onwards, it was the Red Devils who ruled the roost, with further scores from Deon Cross on 62 and 76 mins, Esan Marsters on 67 mins, and Nikorima’s second on 79 mins.
That final spell of ascendency, however, was a consequence of the hard work that the side had undertaken, throughout the whole game. In the first half, with so little possession, it would have been easy to have become frustrated, and to have drifted away from their game-plan, by trying to do things of their own. They did not; they allowed Midlands to burn off their energy, and later their enthusiasm, by effectively undertaking all the tackling that was needed, whilst taking the two, scoring opportunities they presented themselves with.
Once they were able to get on equal terms with their hosts in the possession stakes, they were clinical and ruthless, in turning every opportunity into points, which was just reward for all their previous, and necessary, endeavours.
