Our Scholars were beaten 76-0 by an established Warrington Wolves outfit in tonight’s season opener at Victoria Park.
It was the teams’ first hit-out since the Club was granted its Academy license earlier last year and a spirited performance was perhaps not reflected on the scoreboard.
A Salford error handed Wire the first chance to attack and post points. After a few strong carries, Harry Pratt spotted a gap on the right edge to slide over.
Warrington’s defence was certainly on top in the opening exchanges, restricting Salford’s metres and allowing plenty of good ball sets – George Kelly stepping off his left foot to power under the sticks.
Tommy Rhodes was at the heart of the hosts’ next try, picking out Jake Pennington with a neat cut-out pass to send the winger over in the left corner.
Salford earned their first chance to attack via a classy restart from Bobby Barton, spilled by Wire just 10 from their own line. After a few set-up drives, Riley Johnson played a looping pass to send Owen Schuster into the corner, but the referee pulled back the play for a forward pass.
A carbon copy down the other end saw what would have been Pennington’s second ruled out for a forward pass by Pendlebury.
Warrington were denied a further score by an excellent Conor O’Reilly cover tackle. Switching it right, Schuster cut-out Tyreece Swinton’s attempts to collect a cross-field kick.
They weren’t to be denied for much longer, however. Soft hands from Rhodes sent his back-rower, Josh Harding crashing through the line.
Another Barton restart caused an error and Johnson’s grubber forced a drop-out, but an unfortunate bounce fell into the hands of Ethan Holt, who ran the length of the field to score.
Salford did have another chance just 10 metres out from Wire’s line, but some solid D and strong running from the turnover powered the hosts downfield. Centre, Patrick Shepard showed neat footwork to break the line and slide over on the right edge.
From the next set, Pendlebury managed to jink his way into some space, but an excellent cover tackle from Schuster denied another try.
A Salford error coming from our own line handed Warrington a full set in prime territory and they made it count from the scrum – Rhodes the scorer this time.
Coming out for the second forty, a strong carry from Recce Dobbs caused chaos in the Salford defensive line, managing to stretch over just to the left of the sticks.
Another quick move on the right edge allowed Wire to post their next points. Pratt appeared out the back to take in the final pass and come back inside to touch down in-between the posts.
A scrum play was the next route to success for Wire, working the hands on the right to send Oliver Caddick diving over in the corner.
Pennington got his second around the hour mark, with a quick left edge attack sending the winger racing towards the corner in open field.
Loose-forward, Holt was the next to burst the line with a charge up the centre. This time he managed to flick an offload to Rhodes, who strolled under the sticks.
Pratt secured his hat-trick minutes later, showing a quick turn of pace to step through the middle and score.
A high tackle, albeit try-saving at the time, did little to stop the Wire momentum and a quick shift left saw Pratt slot Shephard through a gap.
The full-time whistle brought to an end a difficult evening for our Scholars, but a first game since 2016 in itself brings a huge positive.
MATCH FACTS:
Salford XIII: Izaak Duell, Owen Schuster, Aiden Gibbons, Conor O’Reilly, Nathan Levinshon, Riley Johnson, Bobby Barton, Noah Williams, Benji Longmate, Aaron Travis, Daryl Beng, Austin Nicholson, Conrad Dockwray.
Interchanges: Jake Mullen, Ethan Costello, Callum Macdonald, Michael Aimudo, Dwayne Williams, Marley Taylor-Harrop, Brennan Hilton.
Warrington Wolves XIII: Harry Pratt, Tyreece Swinton, Patrick Shepard, Recce Dobbs, Jake Pennington, Jack Pendlebury, Tommy Rhodes, Max Bateson, Freddie Hartill, George Kelly, Robbie Johnsto, Josh Harding, Ethan Holt.
Interchanges: Oliver Orgill, Oliver Caddick, Elis Thomas, Coby Walker, Finlay Hill, Brady Bottomley.
Tries: Harry Pratt (3), George Kelly, Jake Pennington (2), Ethan Holt, Patrick Shephard (2), Tommy Rhodes (2), Recce Dobbs, Oliver Caddick,
Conversions: Jack Pendlebury (11/13)
HT: 36-0
FT: 76-0
