MATCH REPORT – SALFORD RED DEVILS 6-26 WIGAN WARRIORS (BETFRED SUPER LEAGUE ROUND 16)

Wigan Warriors went home with the two points in Round 16 of the Betfred Super League.

On a day where we broke our club attendance record, Salford Red Devils came up short on the field; a result which sees us drop to 5th on points difference.

After the loud bang of the field gun, it was the atmosphere that deafened the Salford Stadium, right from the first whistle.

Marc Sneyd’s kick-off caused a bit of confusion, but after a few bobbles, Liam Marshall claimed and got his side powering upfield.

The first twenty minutes was nip-and-tuck, trading sets on halfway and neither side making much progress in the final third.

A half-break and a few Salford penalties later, Joe Shorrocks made the breakthrough for Wigan.

Harry Smith – who’s kicking was a nightmare all afternoon – sent through a teasing grubber for the back-rower to slam down and open the scoring.

The visitors were firmly on top and some scramble defence minutes later prevented a second try – this time via the leap of Abbas Miski.

Bevan French threatened a breakaway with an intercept, but Joe Burgess managed to claw the halfback down before he could make any progress.

A knock-on one play later handed us possession and some smart play from Sneyd cut the Warriors wide open.

Stepping inside the defensive line, our number seven delayed his pass and slipped in Ben Hellewell to slide over for his first in a Salford shirt.

Sneyd’s conversion handed us the lead.

We were handed a massive blow on the 35-minute mark, with Ryan Brierley failing a HIA after a collision with French.

Ken Sio shifted to full-back, with Deon Cross on the wing and Matt Costello replacing the missing position at centre.

Just before the break, Wigan struck via the lightening break of Jai Field. He found the gap and had Liam Farrell in support to flick the pass and slide over.

HALF-TIME: Salford Red Devils 6-8 Wigan Warriors

Wigan were the quickest out the blocks in the second forty, and Miski extended the lead following neat move from a scrum.

Despite some valiant defending, the visitors really started to pick up steam and a high tackle from Burgess allowed them to create their next try.

A combination of Jake Wardle and Farrell sent the former over for his second of the afternoon in the left corner.

Some positive running from Burgess tried to claw Salford back into the contest, but Wigan made sure of the points with five minutes to play.

Sneyd sent a high bomb into the right corner which Cross kept alive; Costello tried another desperate kick that deflected kindly for Marshall to grab and sprint 80 metres downfield to score.

FULL-TIME: Salford Red Devils 6-26 Wigan Warriors

Photo credit: Steve McCormick.