The town of Wigan may of been a slightly surreal place to host a derby between Salford and Swinton but as kick off approached the atmosphere certainly cranked up.

2026 is the first time these two clubs have been in the same League since the 1991/92 Stones Bitter Championship season. The two sets of supporters have been starved of the special rivalry that has seen some terrific matches over the years. 

Both sides were in pretty poor form with Salford winning just one from their last five and the Lions were on the back of five straight defeats. 

Salford coach Dave Hewitt brought in Declan Murphy and Louix Gorman on loan from Hull Kingston Rovers. Murphy started at fullback with Kieran Dixon moving to the wing. Gorman started at centre. Lewis Pilling partnered Toby Hughes in the halves with two more loan signings Alfie Tate and Jack Houghton starting on the bench.

Lions coach Anthony Murray started Louie Roberts at fullback with Luca Walsh and Jack Stevens in the halves. The vastly experienced Gavin Rodden started in the back row. 

Swinton started brightly and should have exploited a large overlap better than they did. Salford played right into the hands of their opponents in the early stages. A needless tip tackle saw both sets of players pile into each other before the referee reduced Salford to eleven men with the sin binning of Danny Lynch and Charlie Glover. For the next ten minutes Salford nullified the Lions threat and by the time they got back to thirteen aside the score was still level at 0-0.

It took twenty minutes before some points came along. A real speculative kick outwitted the Salford defence and it turned into a belter. Ellis Anderson anticipated the kick calmly to score the opening try. Stevens converted well from wide out, 0-6.

Salford responded immediately. Brad Dwyer went on a determined run and found Ollie Garmston with a short pass to send the back rower in for his twelve try of the season. Dixon converted, 6-6.

Both sides progress was hampered by countless mistakes, knock on’s and forward passes became a regular occurrence as the match stuttered along. Despite the lack of quality the match continued to entertain with the unpredictable nature of both sides. 

Lewis Pilling was awarded a bizarre try just before the break. It looked the referee gave a penalty try with Pilling not grounding the ball but looked to be fouled in the act of scoring. The conversion was taken from under the posts which pointed towards a penalty try but I am not sure why the initial conversion wasn’t taken from the place where the try was scored. No second kick at goal was given. 

With a 12-6 advantage at half time this match was still a long way from over. 

The Lions got the perfect start to the second half. They kicked off and Salford allowed the ball to drift into touch. Swinton went wide on the next set and a huge gap opened for Aaron Lynch to score, Stevens again converted well from a distance to level the match again 12-12.

Salford kicked off and this time Swinton made a real hash of it. The Lions defended well this time but Salford’s attack failed to put any real threat together. 

Five minutes after the Lynch try Swinton went in again. A super break down their right edge saw some brilliant support play. Harry Higham finished off the move of the match to put the Lions back in front. Stevens showed nerves of steel to but another conversion off the touch line. 12-18.

On the hour mark Swinton received a penalty within in range. The confident Stevens made no mistake to edge his side into an eight point lead. The forty one years of hurt the Lions had suffered seemed within their grasp to finally quash. 

Salford needed a response fast and Gorman came close only to be agonisingly held up. Garmston went hunting and surrounded by defenders he did what he does best grounded the ball in what looked an impossible situation. Dixon converted, 18-20.

With ten minutes remaining the game hung in the balance. One mistake, one conceded penalty could change the game at this vital point. Lions fullback burst the line to breakaway. Charging towards a certain try a wonderful cover tackle miraculously stopped him inches short. 

The Salford supporters anxiously watched the clock count down on the big screen. It needed something special from deep in the final moments. The ball went right and Callum Green broke clear on a frantic break. He looked inside to the supporting Gorman and found him. The referee called it forward and the Lions had one set to get through. By now they knew they only needed to play the tackles out calmly and they did just that to claim a well deserved victory. Their first over Salford since Easter Monday 1985. 

Both teams were far from their best performance in this match but local derbies bring a different kind of dynamic. Perhaps Salford underestimated Swinton, that’s something that can be debated in the coming days. With fundamental errors and a very poor completion rate you are always going to struggle. Swinton were worthy winners in the end. They took their chances and defended heroically when they needed too. Salford now have two weeks to prepare for an away match at Oldham. The Lions are back in action next Sunday when they face North Wales Crusaders. 

Salford 18 Swinton 20.

Paul Whiteside.

Big thanks to Steve McCormick for the photos.