Salford v London.

Sunday was another very tough afternoon for Salford. Wigan are a very well drilled team with bags of quality and you can’t afford to make mistakes like we did and hope to stay in the contest. A much improved second half was good to see but at the same time you could argue that Wigan eased up with what’s to come for them in the next few weeks.

London were thumped at home to Hull Kingston Rovers, the Broncos trailed 0-46 at the break. I heard a few Salford supporters saying we need to rack a big score up this weekend but for me we need to concentrate on winning the match first. Salford looked busted at times in the past two matches against Leigh and Wigan. Certain players looked like they are struggling and perhaps playing with injuries due to the depth of the squad. We don’t have the luxury of resting players and their will be another doubt over quite a few players this week. Marc Sneyd picked up a few knocks in the first half and did very well to get through the eighty minutes. He was limping after the match so let’s hope he recovers. Jack Ormondroyd and King Vuniyayawa were both missing on Sunday and our lack of size in the pack handed the initiative to Wigan.

I saw quite a bit of negativity on social media regarding Sunday’s attendance. I’ve never really got the attendance obsession that rugby league supporters have. For me it’s the last thing I look at. Some of the comments you read are very small minded. It’s like kids in a playground, my clubs bigger than your club syndrome! Take football for example. Manchester United get over 70,000 every week. Luton Town averaged less than 12,000 in 23/24. I know they have a smaller ground but my point is they both played in the same league last season and were measured by their performance on the pitch. Rugby League can be so parochial at times. I want all clubs to do well but sometimes you’ve got to accept that all clubs are different. Teams like Wigan and St.Helens have had so much success in my life time of the last forty years, compared to Salford who’ve now waited over 48 years since a last major trophy. It’s frustrating for the club who are working so hard on and off the pitch. In my opinion I think we’ve made a lot of progress over the last five or six years. I don’t know what the answer is to getting better crowds. It’s not just Salford that struggle lots of other clubs do to. Perhaps we should spend more time celebrating the great game we have rather than moaning and complaining about it.

Super League home record.

Salford 13

Draws 0

London 8

1997 Salford 16 London 27

1998 Salford 23 London 20

1999 Salford 31 London 14

2000 Salford 42 London 26

2001 Salford 12 London 14

2001 Salford 12 London 50

2002 Salford 18 London 42

2004 Salford 30 London 12

2005 Salford 20 London 16

2005 Salford 26 London 18

2006 Salford 28 Harlequins 29

2006 Salford 34 Harlequins 0

2007 Salford 5 Harlequins 2

2009 Salford 18 Harlequins 48

2010 Salford 17 Harlequins 14

2011 Salford 26 Harlequins 18

2012 Salford 44 London 12

2013 Salford 4 London 38

2014 Salford 58 London 26

2016 Salford 16 London 19 (qualifiers)

2019 Salford 24 London 0

They played for both.

Here are a selection of players who have played for both clubs;

Steven Bannister, Radney Bowker, Andrew Brocklehurst, Luke Burgess, Mason Caton Brown, David Cruikshank, Luke Dorn, David Driver, Carl Forster, Matt Gardner, Matty Gee, Tony Gourley, George Griffin, Gareth Haggerty, Tim Hartley, David Highton, Andy Johnson, Ben Jones Bishop, Olsi Krasniqi, Tommy Lee, Ian Maccorquodale, Martin Offiah, Rob Parker, Gareth Price, Jon Roper, Darren Shaw, Andy Smith, Anthony Stewart, Trevor Stockley and Josh White.

A match to Remember 15th June 2007.

Salford 5 Harlequins 2.

After the highs of 2006 and our 5th place finish in Super League. 2007 was a real story of disappointment. Karl Harrison’s Reds failed to kick on and make progress despite some exciting signings boosting the squad. After a string of poor results the final straw for Karl was a dismal display against Catalans in Perpignan. In the pouring rain Salford were battered 66-6. Harrison was sacked . Steve Simms took over as caretaker coach before the appointment of Australian Shaun McRae.

McRae took charge for the first time for Salford’s home clash with Harlequins. A very strange game with two sides struggling to find there creative spark. The scores were locked a 2-2 going in to the final quarter. Luke Robinson dropped a goal to edge the Reds in to a 3-2 lead with 14 minutes remaining.

Salford had been hit by injuries but with Malcolm Alker and Aaron Moule returning looked a lot more solid.

John Wilshere kicked the final points of the match late on to clinch the match 5-2.

Salford had a further ten matches to play after this one but managed just one victory at home to Bradford. Relegation was confirmed after newly promoted Hull Kr thumped City rivals Hull.

The teams that day were;

Salford

Wilshere, Hodgson, McGuinness, Moule, Littler, Dorn, Robinson, Korkidas, Alker, Highton, Coley, Edmondson, Finnigan.

Subs, Brocklehurst, Gower, Turner, Jewitt.

Harlequins

Melling, Wells, Sykes, Smith, Gafa, McLinden, Orr, Temata, Randall, Mills, Hopkins, Worrincy, Paul.

Subs, Rinaldi, Grayshon, Mbu, Bannister.

Attendance 4,067.

Sunday’s match.

A lot of focus this week will be on Paul Rowley’s twenty one man squad. It was a big boost last Sunday to see Joe Mellor back in the team. He made a remarkable recovery from a broken hand and at the moment he’s the form hooker at the club. Salford are overwhelming favourites to win this match. Some bookies have given London at thirty two point start. When the two sides met in the reverse fixture just over a month ago it was a very tight game. As previously mentioned the squad is looking a bit busted at the moment so the most important thing this Sunday is getting the two points.

The Broncos are a team with nothing to lose so expect them to force the pass and try to be expansive. Their are some intriguing fixtures this weekend in the Super League where the result could go either way. Victory for Salford will keep us in the top six.

Personally I hope Matty Foster keeps his place in the seventeen. I thought he worked really hard off the bench and his defence was very solid against Wigan. Matty started at the famous Blackbrook ARLFC before progressing through the system at St.Helens. At 22 years old he’s got a massive future in front of him and he will learn so much from Kallum Watkins as he works to become an accomplished back rower.

The action gets under way at 3pm.

Safe travels and enjoy the match.

Paul Whiteside.

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