After a tough Good Friday match against Leigh, Salford rounded off the Easter programme against Catalan Dragons in Perpignan. It had been a beautiful day and was still very warm at pitch side at kick off.
The first half was a scrappy affair with a lot of stoppages and Salford struggled to find any sort of fluentcy! Salford lost Junior Sa'u and Logan Tomkins which was a bitter blow with Ian Watson having to shuffle the team round.
The first points of the match came when a Salford mistake in centre field gave the Dragons possession. Good ball movement saw Vincent Duport score out wide. Luke Walsh added the conversion 6-0 after 12 minutes.
Catalan were strong in defence Josh Jones was clattered in a real solid tackle that could of been deemed a spear tackle. Luke Walsh was orchestrating the play for the home side and when his neat kick through hit the cross bar it was a real let off for the Red Devil's! Salfords best chance of the first half falls to Justin Carney but he just runs out of space.
Vincent Duport gets over the line again and Salford look like they have forced the error when the video referee is called into action. The try is given and with Walsh's conversion it's 12-0.
A string of penalties for the Dragons and Salford start to feel the pressure. It feels like a let off when Walsh takes the two points from close range. The dragons lead 14-0 against a tired looking Salford side now low on numbers.
Todd Carney adds to salfords woes with a knock on from the second half kick off. The Reds escape unscathed with some good defence.
Desperate for a score Salford start to push forward. Todd Carney throws a looping pass but Greg Johnson can't take it in. The Dragons take full advantage making Salford pay the price when ex red Richie myler's pin point kick finds Inu who scores. The Walsh goal makes it 20-0.
Salfords huge traveling army of fans finally get something to shout about when Justin Carney pockets a dragons kick on his own line and races the full length of the field to score. Gareth o Brien adds the goal 20-6.
The game though is then put beyond The Reds when Walsh puts a kick through that should be mopped up by Salford. O Brien misjudges the bounce and the ball going straight into the arms of Myler who races over. Walsh goal 26-6.
The Red Devil's bad luck continues as Dobson and Lui make a great break! Unbelievably Tony Giggot intercepts and races away to add to the misery! Walsh fails with the kick 30-6.
There is a wonderful partisan atmosphere in the ground with a crowd of almost 11000 witnessing Catalans best performance of the season. The excellent busy half back Walsh adds two drop goals for the Dragons to extend their lead to 32-6 before Bosc super kick to the wing finds Duport who grabs his hat trick try! Giggot kicks off the touch line 38-6.
The Salford players look shattered at full time with the Easter fixtures really taking its toll. Speaking to Ian Watson after the match he was disappointed with the result but was very pleased with the effort and courage of his players. He will no doubt be looking for a reaction from his players next Sunday for the big cup match against Toronto! Junior Sau could possibly have a groin problem and will be assessed in the next few days!
Final score In Perpignan, Catalan 38 Salford 6.
Report by Paul Whiteside
Pictures by Steve McCormick
Your listening to the latest Devil in the Detail Podcast all your Salford Red Devil's chat. This week we are joined by Michael Dobson, Lami Tasi and Ian Watson and lots more news coming out the club.
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