Halifax V Salford Red Devil’s DITD BIG MATCH PREVIEW

Halifax RLFC vs Salford Red Devils 

Super League Qualifiers – The Shay - Sunday 2nd September 3:00PM

The Red Devils are two from two from The Qualifiers and have looked impressive against both their opponents so far. Sunday’s visit to Halifax RLFC will pose a different challenge as Salford play their first Championship side of the competition.

After squeezing into 4th place in the Championship table by a single point from Featherstone Rovers and Leigh Centurions, The Fax were the surprise package of the Championship. Unfortunately, their results so far mean that with two losses from two (against Toronto and Toulouse) they sit at the foot of the Qualifiers table.

Head to Head

Salford’s last 3 head to heads against Halifax have all resulted in victories:

5th September 2015: Halifax 28- 50 Salford

31st July 2008: Halifax 18-36 Salford

27th June 2008: Salford 30-24 Halifax

Form

As you can see, running through the Head to Heads shows that history at least as well as current form is on the side of the Red Devils. However, the history part at least will count for little when Salford take the field this weekend in West Yorkshire. Many teams have found Halifax at home an extremely tough proposition, Fax having only lost twice all season at home, both times to runaway leaders Toronto Wolfpack.

Salford meanwhile in Super League having only picked up two wins all season away from home, the second coming just three weekends and two matches ago, against Hull KR. It’s imperative therefore that Ian Watson’s men concentrate on current form to ensure they come away with 2 more Qualifier points in the race for Super League safety. 

With 3 wins from their last 3 games though, as well as being the Super League team, Salford will start as firm favourites for this tie.

Coaches

Fax Coach Richard Marshall will be keen to lock horns with Devil’s coach Ian Watson, having briefly crossed paths back at Swinton in the 2006 season as players. 

With both men also having their first forays into coaching with their current clubs and both starting their managerial careers in 2015, there are many similarities between them. However, personal battles aside, both coaches will acknowledge that 2 points from this match will be all that matters at full time.

Focus on: Halifax

Halifax’s Marshall has highlighted several areas of importance in the build up to the game:

Intensity: In Fax’s last game against Toulouse, the coach believed that the squad lacked some intensity and ultimately it’s what cost them the game. This will be an area against the Red Devil’s he believes his side wont come up short in, again.

Attack: The pack and defence are areas he believes is already strong, however in the last couple of games, the attacking areas have been lacking, particularly when putting pressure on the goal line. The coach has clearly worked on these areas during the week and the spare weekend for the cup final, so Salford will have to be ready to face a well drilled attack.

Kicking: In the last couple of games, Halifax have been guilty of not following up their good kicking with kick chases. Marshall suggested in some cases the chases have been non-existent, so this will be an area that has been focussed on ahead of Sunday. Steve Tyrer Halifax’s main goal kicker and an experienced player is injured so could be a crucial loss ahead of the game.

Focus on: Salford

Attitude: Red Devil’s Coach Ian Watson has focussed on attitude during the extra week of training and to make sure that the professionalism of his side during the rest of the games of the qualifiers remains high. There is clearly no room for complacency in his side and the coach has announced a strong looking 19 for the trip across the Pennines to West Yorkshire.

Pivots: The difference in this game could come from the play makers in the middle of the Salford side. Watson hailed the trio of Evalds, Lui and Hastings as possibly the best pivots and playmakers in Super League on current form, during the televised victory against Widnes. This will give those players added confidence that he is placing so much praise on them. 

Watson has always been quick to emphasise the importance of the team over the individuals, but in Hastings he is managing a player who is on top of his form and clearly enjoying his rugby. This is releasing Rob Lui from being the main playmaker, giving him more time on the ball and allowing him to express himself. 

With the return of Evalds at full back towards the end of the regular season completing the pivots, Watson can call on a number of players to make the big decisions at key times and areas of the match.

Therefore, there should be no reason not to think that this week’s clash over in West Yorkshire will be anything but a good performance, a good Salford victory and two more precious points toward Super League for 2019.

Come on Salford!

Pictures by Steve McCormick 

Preview by Richard Lowe

check out this weeks podcast here for all your Salford Red Devils news and chat

Halfiax v Salford Red Devils match preview

Halifax have had another really consistent season in the championship. Young coach Richard Marshall has worked wonders on a low budget and boasts some really exciting young talent in his side. Former Halifax and Salford legend Colin Dixon’s grandson Chester Butler is making a real name for himself and will definitely be a player to watch. The vastly experienced Scott Murrell teams up in the halves with Ben Johnston and Fax are not short of pace with speedsters Kieran Moss, Will Sharp and Ben Heaton. Former Salford player Steve Tryer has become a real points machine in West Yorkshire and his now in his 6th season at Halifax.

Salford last met Halifax in a competitive fixture back in 2015 in the qualifiers. The Red Devils won away in a highly entertaining match 28-50. Niall Evalds grabbed a hat trick. Salford beat Halifax home and away in the 2008 Championship season.

Halifax were relegated from Rugby League’s top flight at the end of the 2003 season. The club have a long and proud history leaving there historical home at Thrum Hall at the end of 1997. Since then they have shared The Shay with football team Halifax Town.

The clubs major honours are Challenge cup winners 1903, 1904, 1931, 1939 and 1987. There 1939 success saw a 20-3 victory over Salford at Wembley.

Halifax’s last League title came in 1986.

It’s been a tough start to the Qualifiers for the West Yorkshire side with two defeats. At home to Toronto 0-14 and away at Toulouse 28-6.

As the Wolfpack pack found a few weeks ago Halifax are a real tough nut to crack on there own ground, Salford will need to be switched on to get the result on Sunday.

Last Ten meetings 

1997 Super League, Halifax 12 Salford 28

1998 Super League, Halifax 34 Salford 6

1999 Super League, Halifax 30 Salford 14

1999 Super League, Halifax 32 Salford 20

2000 Super League, Halifax 12 Salford 29

2001 Super League, Halifax 30 Salford 18

2002 Super League, Halifax 12 Salford 15

2008 National League, Halifax 18 Salford 36

2015 Qualifiers, Halifax 28 Salford 50

2017 Colin Dixon Memorial Trophy, Halifax 6 Salford 13

They played for both.

Colin Dixon, Greg Austin, Damien Gibson, Gavin Clinch, Andrew Dunemann, Luke Adamson, Luke Ambler, Simon Baldwin, Danny Arnold, Steven Bannister,

Gavin Bennion, Carl Briggs , Ryan Boyle, Peter Brown, Ryan Clayton, Jason Flowers, Danny Halliwell, Karle Hammond, Steve Hampson, Tim Hartley, Phil Hassan, David Hodgson, Graham Holroyd, John Pendlebury, Martin Moana, Nick Pinkney, Craig Randall, Ian Watson, Paul White, Colin Whitfield, Steve Tyrer and Lokeni Savellio to name a few.

A match to remember Monday 1st April 2002 Halifax 12 Salford 15 

2002 was a real season of struggle for Salford. With young coach Steve McCormack in charge things didn’t go to plan. Steve was eventually replaced by Karl Harrison mid season but the writing was on the wall. Salford had to beat Castleford on the final day to stay up but lost 10-20 at The Willows and we’re relegated. A season with quite a lot of big defeats and dark days which our loyal supporters would rather forget.

Easter time though was a bit more memorable. A good solid win over Warrington on good Friday at The Willows 31-18, Salford travelled over the pennies to Halifax on Easter Monday.

A damp and miserable day was in store as the two sides came out for kick off.

The Reds made an excellent start and played the conditions really well,scoring two tries in the opening six minutes.

First, Halifax full-back Daryl Cardiss fumbled a high high kick allowing Francis Maloney to score under the posts.

Three minutes later, from another Bobbie Goulding high kick, Mick Wainwright outjumped Cardiss to catch the ball and touch down.

Goulding stepped up on both occasions to convert the tries.

Salford extended their lead on 11 minutes when Gouding kicked a penalty after Blue Sox hooker Sean Penkywicz was penalised for striking Reds forward Darren Shaw.

Halifax tried to respond but Gavin Clinch saw his effort disallowed for a double movement and moments later Goulding kicked a drop goal to put Salford 15-0 up at half time.

The home side finally broke their duck five minutes after the restart.

Clinch went over for a try after good work by Colum Halpenny and Andrew Dunemann while Danny Tickle added the goal.

In the 63rd minute, Jamie Thackray took the ball close to the Salford line and went over with four Reds tacklers trying to hold him back.

Tickle added a second goal but Salford held on for their first back-to-back victories under coach Steve McCormack.

The teams that day;

Halifax: Cardiss, Beckett, Woods, Donlan, Halpenny, Dunemann, Clinch, Goldspink, Penkywicz, Gannon, Bloem, Tickle, McMenemy. Replacements: Hobson, Thackray, Flowers, Birchall.

Salford: Gibson, Pinkney, Nicol, Hunte, Arnold, Maloney, Goulding, Baynes, Alker, Shaw, Jowitt, Treacey, Wainwright. Replacements: Holroyd, Corvo, P. Highton, Ebrill.

Referee: Steve Ganson (St Helens).

Sunday’s match 

Salford have made a perfect start to the Qualifiers with two excellent wins over Hull kr and Widnes. Halifax have lost both there games to Toronto and Toulouse. The Red Devils will start favourites but Richard Marshall has moulded a hard working side who can play some clever stuff. In what has been an enthralling Championship campaign Halifax’s fourth place finish was a great achievement. It promises to be an exciting encounter if the last qualifiers meeting has anything to go by. Three years ago saw Salford triumph 28-50. Greg Johnson, Niall Evalds and Ben Jones Bishop scoring hat tricks.

The action gets under way at 3pm

Safe travels and enjoy the match, Paul Whiteside.

Pictures by Steve McCormick 

Dagenham and Redbridge v Salford City Fc preview

From South to West. 

Saturday see’s the Ammies travel south for a 430 mile round trip to Dagenham and Redbridge. Redbridge are currently sitting bottom of the National League with 1 point from 7 games. 

Redbridge will be looking to register there first home win and 3 points of season against Salford. However Alexander’s men will having something to say about that having gone 4 games without a defeat whilst scoring 9 goals in that period. 

The form of Redbridge will be good news for striker Adam Rooney who will be looking to add to his 6 goals already this season. As well as his strike partner Rory Gaffney who hasn’t managed a goal since the opening day vs Leyton Orient. 

Tuesday will then see Salford travel west to face promotion rivals A.F.C Fylde. Last time Salford travel to Mill Farm the game ended 3-3 with a stoppage time goal from Fylde defender Williams. 

Salford will be looking to make another bold statement this Tuesday tonight after this current run. Fylde, who currently sit 3rd in the table will be looking to continue there start to season, where they have only conceded 3 goals and haven’t picked a defeat up yet! 

With there current form the Ammies will be looking to get the 3 points on the coast, However they do need to make a massive statement vs Fylde if they want to me considered as title contenders this early on in the season.

Pictures from @salfordcityfc 

Report by Joe Burns

Salford City FC 3 Barrow 1 Match Report

Moving on up!

After Saturdays 1-1 at Havent Salford needed to get back to winning ways against Barrow on Bank Holiday Monday. 

Barrow Midfield Jason Taylor opened the scoring in front of the home end with a smart finish from just outside the box. 

9 minutes later Adam Rooney was left unmarked in the box and fired a shot low and hard to beat Barrow keeper Firth to make it 1-1 at half time. 

15 minutes into the second half Salford won a corner and from a Danny Lloyd delivery new signing, Nathan Pond grab his first goal of the season with a powerful header. 

Minutes later Barrows Number 7 Jack Hindle handballed a cross from the Ammies left hand side. Salford’s new number 10 Danny Lloyd stepped up with a short run up slotted home the penalty.  

Final Score:

Salford City 3 - 1 Barrow 

Salford:

1.Neal, 2.Wiseman, 23. Pond, 6. Piergianni 3.Touray, 18.Whitehead, 4.Mafuta, 11.Walker, 10.Lloyd, 9. Rooney(C), 30. Gaffney

Substitutes: 12. Crocombe (GK), 5.Hogan,

7. Haughton, 8.Maynard, 21.Rodney.

Pictures from @salfordcityfc twitter
Report from Joe Burns

Salford City Fc 3 Chesterfield FC 2

Chesterfield came to Moor Lane on Saturday wanting to get back to winning ways after losing there 100% start to the season season on Tuesday night vs Barrow. 

In the 19th minute Adam Rooney grad his 4th goal of the season to open the scoring for Salford. Then fellow new singing Rory Gaffney then struck the woodwork to nearly make it 2-0. 

After that Chesterfield came close on a number of different occasions after breaking down Salford’s defence. The equaliser finally came just before half time on the 43rd minute when former West Ham winger  Zavon Hines grad the goal from a Salford defensive error. 

City then re took the lead from a Danny Lloyd Corner which was headed home by central defender Carl Piergianni. However 3 minutes later another Chesterfield equaliser came from former Celtic and West Brom striker Marc-Antoine Fortuné. 

Salford came very close to grabbing a winner from new Rigby Back Scott Wiseman who’s strike hit the woodwork. The winning goal did finally come and it was another new signing who got the goal.Central Midfield Danny Whitehead fired a shot from just outside the box which found the bottom left hand corner in the 89th Minute. 

Final Score 

Salford 3 - 2 Chesterfield 

Salford:

1.Neal, 2.Wiseman, 23. Pond, 6. Piergianni 3.Touray, 18.Whitehead, 8.Maynard, 11.Walker, 10.Lloyd, 9. Rooney(C), 30. Gaffney

Substitutes: 12. Crocombe (GK) 4.Mafuta, 5.Hogan,

7. Haughton, 21.Rodney.

Attendance: 3,595

Report by Joe Burns

Pictures from @salfordcityfc

Salford 32 Widnes 6 Match Report

Salford made it a perfect start to the qualifiers with a comprehensive victory over a struggling Widnes side. 

The visitors made a bright start going over for the first points of the match, veteran half back Liam Finn’s high kick wasn’t dealt with by the Salford defence. Charlie Runciman touched down in the corner. Christian Inu with a perfect conversion off the touch line. 

Both sides traded sets with the home supporters starting to get a little anxious.

With sixteen minutes on the clock Junior Sau powered over for a trade mark try. Ed Chamberlain who’s kicking has been excellent slotted the touch line conversion with ease to level the score. On the next set Robert Lui booted a 40-20 kick to get Salford on the front foot, Jackson Hastings error though let the Vikings off the hook.

The Red Devils didn’t have to wait long though as Sau grabbed his second try after a nice move and good work from Hastings. Again Chamberlain landed the difficult conversion 12-6.

Speedsters Chamberlain and Niall Evalds combined well, the latter shot off on a thrilling break. Patrick Ah Van coming to the rescue for Widnes.

The Vikings were struggling for field position coming up with numerous errors in there own half. At times they looked a desperate side who are certainly feeling the pressure. 

In the closing stages of the first half Salford’s Joey Lussick was sin binned. 

Olly Ashall-Bott had really caught the eye for the Vikings, the 20 year old fullback had been excellent under the high ball and very exciting going forward. He picked an injury up and was helped from the field, the incident was put on report although it looked like a routine tackle.

Leading 12-6 at half time despite Salford’s territorial dominance the game was still on a knife edge. However five minutes in to the second half Robert Lui burrowed over from close range to extend the lead. 

Evalds again showing lightning pace on one of his trade mark breaks looked to have beaten the Widnes defence but lost his boot and tried to pass inside but the chance evaded him.

53 minutes gone and a Salford penalty sees a call for take the two ring around the ground. The advice is duly obliged with Ed Chamberlain kicking the goal to take the sting out of Widnes at 20-6.

A classy piece of play on the hour set Evalds up for a well deserved try. Chamberlain making it 5/5 with his goal kicking to put the game to bed.

The Red Devils rounded the scoring off when Aussie duo Hastings and Lussick combined with a nice ball back on the inside for Mark Flanagan to steam over.

A faultless kicking display from Chamberlain capped off a super result 32-6.

A delighted Ian Watson speaking after the match highlighted the impact his new signings have had and is particularly pleased with the balance and spine of his side. There is still plenty of work to be done in the remaining five matches but the perfect start Salford have made puts them in a good place. Three wins on the trot for the first time since May 2017 and confidence continues to grow. The Red Devil’s now have a good break before they play Halifax in a fortnight.

Paul Whiteside.

Pictures by Steve McCormick 📷

Salford City FC v Chesterfield FC Big Match Preview

The Only Way is Up

After gaining just one point from the first three games Graham Alexander’s men have finally registered there first three points of the season. Which has moved them up to 14th in the National League. 

Last time out against Halifax Town saw captain Liam Hogan dropped to the bench to be replaced my the experienced Nathan Pond who went onto to get the assist for Adam Rooney’s winning goal. 

Dropping Hogan wouldn’t of been an easy decision for Alexander to make but it played a big part in Salford getting the three points. Pond, who was making his first competitive for Salford showed his experience and leadership quality doing the whole 90 minutes. 

The partnership of Hogan and Carl Piergianni has had a rough start to he season and you couldn’t tell they have played a full season together with some off the errors and decision making they have both made. 

Chesterfield @ Moor Lane 18/08/18 

Chesterfield have had a good start to the season picking up nine points from four games: scoring 7 and conceding 3.  

Chesterfields winning start was ended on Tuesday when they travelled to Barrow, who took the lead early on and ended up taking all three points in a 3-2 victory. 

Again it will be a hard game for Salford with Chesterfield wanting to get back on the winning horse. However if Salford keep the ball along the floor and play football it should end in a Salford victory. 

Once again at Moor Lane will have another big attendance after Chesterfield have already sold out there 1300 allocation.