Salford v Wigan.

Well it was certainly a night to remember last Friday in St.Helens. A thrilling victory for the Red Devils and quite a comeback from 20-6 down. If you think back over the decades we’ve had plenty of disappointing results away from home against the likes of St.Helens, Wigan and Leeds. So to finally get a victory it was pretty special for the supporters and the club. When the hooter sounded on Friday night the sheer joy on the faces behind the sticks was absolutely heart warming.

Once again Marc Sneyd was instrumental in everything and losing Cade Cust could have been a huge blow but Chris Atkin steadied the ship with an accomplished performance. I thought Joe Shorrocks was outstanding, particularly in the final stages of the match when we played without our three big men, Jack Ormonroyd, King Vuniyayawa and Brad Singleton. I got so excited I managed to get Shorrocks mixed up with Oliver Partington again! I think that’s from the mullet haircuts! My apologies to the two lads.

Deon Cross scored to excellent tries against his hometown club and what about that offload from Tim Lafai.

As for the red card, well I like my Rugby League to be as rough and tough as possible. The way things are this season I don’t think the St.Helens club or supporters would have had any complaints if that decision had been a Salford player hitting a Saints player. Salford thoroughly deserved the win and if you think Saints haven’t had the rub of the green in any of the forty one consecutive victories prior to Friday night then I think your a little naive.

Newly crowned World Champions Wigan are the visitors to Salford this Friday. After their heroics against Penrith Panthers the Warriors don’t appear to be suffering any sort of hangover. The following week they beat Huddersfield 30-16 and last Saturday a 22-60 away win at London Broncos sent Wigan to the top of the Super League.

After a bruising encounter at St.Helens, Salford coach Paul Rowley will be forced to make changes with Cust definitely missing with quite a few others struggling too.

Super League home record.

Salford 5

Draws 0

Wigan 22

1997 Salford 14 Wigan 4

1998 Salford 2 Wigan 34

1999 Salford 6 Wigan 46

2000 Salford 18 Wigan 30

2001 Salford 31 Wigan 30

2002 Salford 24 Wigan 46

2004 Salford 16 Wigan 32

2005 Salford 20 Wigan 34

2006 Salford 28 Wigan 10

2007 Salford 6 Wigan 25

2007 Salford 24 Wigan 50

2009 Salford 12 Wigan 38

2010 Salford 4 Wigan 18

2011 Salford 16 Wigan 32

2012 Salford 20 Wigan 40

2013 Salford 0 Wigan 42

2014 Salford 4 Wigan 25

2015 Salford 24 Wigan 18

2016 Salford 20 Wigan 23

2017 Salford 16 Wigan 26

2018 Salford 12 Wigan 40

2019 Salford 22 Wigan 30

2019 Salford 26 Wigan 30

2020 Salford 18 Wigan 14

2021 Salford 16 Wigan 17

2022 Salford 12 Wigan 30

2023 Salford 6 Wigan 26

They played for both.

Over the years there have been plenty of players who’ve been at both clubs at some point in their career. Here are a few of them,

Mal Aspey, Neil Baynes, Steve Blakeley, Gavin Clinch, Andy Coley, Michael Dobson, Mark Flanagan, Martin Gleeson, Sean Gleeson, Wayne Godwin, Bobbie Goulding, Andy Gregory, Steve Hampson, Ged Byrne, Paul O Neil, Harrison Hansen, Gareth Hock, Nathan Mcavoy, Lee Mossop, Jack Murphy, David Myers, Martin Offiah, Sam Panapa, John Pendlebury, Luke Robinson, Tim Smith, David Stephenson, Trevor Stockey, Ged Stazicker, Scott Taylor, Logan Tomkins, Colin Whitfield, Stephen Wild and Phil Ford.

A match to remember Friday 13th March 2020.

Salford 18 Wigan 14.

All the talk leading up to the match was about how well Wigan were playing and rightly so. The Warriors opened the scoring with a penalty goal from Chris Hankinson after five minutes.

The Red Devils struggled to get over the half way line in the early stages and had plenty of defensive work to do.

Tui Lolohea levelled the scores with a penalty goal but when Ken Sio knocked on from the kick off Salford we’re back under the cosh. Wigan profited from the set scrum as Jackson Hastings dropped his shoulder to score a fine try against his former club.

A clever kick through from Kevin Brown and a nice break from Niall Evalds showed attacking promise but Salford seemed to be unable to build significant pressure. In the closing stages of the half Sam Powell scored a real sucker punch try as a Salford attack collapsed at one end leaving the Wigan hooker to pinch a simple try at the other end. Hankinson missed a penalty goal on the half time hooter to leave the visitors 2-14 up at the break and looking fairly comfortable.

Sebastine Ikahihifo knocked on ten yards from his own line in the first set of the second half. Salford battened down the hatches to defend their line frantically.

It needed something special to put some life back into the game. Niall Evalds was the man to provide it. The hot stepping fullback showed some individual brilliance to fool the Wigan defence. Lolohea’s conversion reduced the deficit to 8-14 with just over twenty minutes left.

The Warriors began to panic, they seemed shell shocked at Salford’s spirt. Ian Watson’s men had renewed confidence, they were fighting for each other in what was a monumental effort.

Looking to kill off Salford’s resistance the Warriors went on the attack. A dangerous kick through was picked up clean by Evalds close to his own line. He shot through the gap and went the full length of the field much to the delight of the home supporters. Lolohea levelled the scores at 14-14 with just over ten minutes remaining.

Another thrilling Salford break was cut short by referee James Child who adjudged a pass to be forward. By now it was end to end action and one tremendous contest. Live wire Rhys Williams made another swashbuckling break with his long hair flying in the breeze. From close range their was no stopping Kevin Brown who crashed over to raise the roof on the AJ Bell Stadium. Lolohea missed the goal but Salford hit the front for the first time in the match 18-14. A remarkable turn around!

Wigan came out swinging though in the final minutes and forced a drop out.

Former Warriors centre Dan Sarginson who had been sensational all night came up with the tackle of the match. An absolute bell ringer to force a knock on. A huge roar erupted around the ground. Salford battled out the final minute to take a famous victory and a thoroughly deserved one.

Ian Watson remained grounded after the match but the glint was back in his eye. “It’s got to prove a point this, you play the way you train and your a good team. We’ve got to believe and the proof will no be in the pudding going forward. It’s great getting up for a game against Wigan but we’ve got to back this up.” Watson praised the efforts of Niall Evalds and Dan Sarginson who both put in fantastic performances. After a disappointing few weeks the Salford supporters went home delighted on a famous night for the whole club.

The teams that night,

Salford,

Evalds, Sio, Welham, Sarginson, Williams, Lolohea, Brown, Mossop, Lussick, Lannon, Roberts, McCarthy, Yates.

Subs, Pauli, Ikahihifo, Flanagan.

Wigan,

French, Manfredi, Hankinson, Bibby, Marshall, Leuluia, Hastings, Burgess, Powell, Byrne, Isa, Farrell, Smithies.

Subs, Bullock, Havard, Clark, Smith.

Referee, James Child.

Attendance, 4,796.

Thursday’s match.

Wigan boss Matty Peet has built a very impressive squad and was very active on the recruitment front in the close season. The Warriors have arguably the biggest pack in the Super League as well as plenty of cover across all positions.

Bevan French and Jai Field have the ability to win matches from anywhere on the pitch.

This is another match that Paul Rowley will relish. It’s going to be a huge test of resolve and character but we’ve already seen in the opening four rounds that this Salford side has a wonderful togetherness. In a way it’s a shame it’s a Thursday night because it can be tricky for supporters to get there after a day at work but I am sure there will be a good crowd.

With Cade Cust missing it will be interesting to see how Rowley sets his starting thirteen up. You would expect Chris Atkin to slot in at number Six after doing such a solid job last Friday. I thought Joe Shorrocks worked wonders at loose forward against St.Helens. Joe isn’t the biggest but his work rate was outstanding and he can tackle too! Ethan Ryan and David Nofoaluma are both awaiting debuts but with Chris Hankinson and Deon Cross playing so well that’s another conundrum for the Salford coach.

Wigan will start favourites with Salford having a ten point start on the betting coupon. This match has all the ingredients to be another thriller. The Red Devils have beaten Wigan five times in this fixture since the start of Summer Rugby in 1996. Three of those wins came at the Willows, 1997 when a Steve Blakeley and Ian Watson half back partnership masterminded a 14-4 victory. In 2001 Graham Holroyd dropped a goal in a 31-30 win that saw Wigan boss Frank Endacott lose his job and who could forget that memorable win in 2006 under coach Karl Harrison 28-10.

The action gets under way at 8pm.

Safe travels and enjoy the match.

Paul Whiteside.

Big thanks to Steve McCormick for the photos and the Salford match day programme.