It was a really pleasant summer evening in West Yorkshire as the two sides came out for their respective warmups. It had been another busy week off the field for Salford with various meetings taking place with the sports hierarchy. Supporters were still seemingly in the dark though with not much news regarding the outcome. A statement of reassurance would have been a respectful and positive move from the parties involved.

The die hard Salford faithful were in good voice prior to kick off on the West terrace. Headingley is now arguably the best facility in club Rugby League but you still get wet as a visiting supporter! 

After last week’s injury issues Paul Rowley made the inevitable changes. Ryan Brierley played in the halves with Oliver Russell. Dan Russell moved to centre and Declan Murphy started at fullback. 

Leeds had Brodie Croft and Jake Connor in the halves with Kallum Watkins at loose forward. Jarrod O’Connor started at nine with interchange hooker Andy Ackers on the bench.

The Rhinos were overwhelming favourites with some bookies refusing to take bets on a Leeds victory. Perhaps over confidence played its part in the early stages as the home side failed to respect possession with their flash style of play not really working. Salford were methodical and worked hard completing their sets as well as muscling up in defence. Chris Hill and Jack Ormondroyd worked at their usual lung-busting rate. 

Murphy denied Croft with some superb fullback play. Once again the youngster looked so confident in attack and defence. 

It took Leeds nineteen minutes to open the scoring and it was flying winger Alfie Eghill who scored in the corner after some flamboyant ball movement to the edges. The Rhinos went back to back on the next set with a very similar move down their left edge. Eghill scored his second try and with one successful conversion from the two tries Leeds had a 10-0 lead.

As a Salford supporter you now feared the worst with the home side looking so dominant. However the Red Devils refused to be overwhelmed by the situation. They kept working and when Brierley’s piece of individual brilliance produced a stunning try Salford were right back in the match. Brierley chipped through a delightful kick which he followed up to score just millimetres before the dead ball line. The video referee took a good while with his perusal but the try was given, Chris Hankinson converted 10-6.

Salford grew in confidence and the home side struggled to defend when Murphy returned the ball. The Salford fullback produced a breathtaking run to round Leeds fullback Lachie Miller but the referee wasn’t convinced and sent the decision to the video referee. The try was denied for obstruction but it seemed harsh. I suppose when you are at the bottom those kind of decisions don’t really go your way. As the half time hooter sounded 10-6 was a magnificent effort in a half the travelling supporters had plenty to cheer.

Leeds came out rejuvenated for the second half and when Miller went over just five minutes in Salford were back on the ropes. Connor increased the lead with a penalty goal shortly after, 18-6.

It was another controversial decision that floored Salford like a boxer taking a big right down the pipe. Matty Foster was sin binned in what looked a pretty weak decision. Leeds took complete advantage scoring three tries in Foster’s absence. Eghill completed his hat trick in what was a terrific performance from the young Rhinos winger before Harry Newman and James McDonnell bagged tries. Connor converted all three, 36-6.

Jack Ormondroyd went off after a very heavy collision with Sam Lisone. Ormondroyd came off worse as the defender but thankfully passed his HIA. 

Cooper Jenkins completed the scoring with a try six minutes from time. The 42-6 score line seemed very harsh on a Salford side that battled hard showing plenty of resilience. Tiaki Chan came off the bench and put himself about in some heroic tackles and the Rhinos would have woke up Saturday morning sore after a pretty bruising encounter.

Salford have a welcome week off next weekend with no fixture. Our next game is against Hull Kingston Rovers on Thursday 31st July at the Salford Community Stadium.

Leeds 42 Salford 6.

Paul Whiteside.

Big thanks to Steve McCormick for photos.