| Salford City Reds 10-36 Huddersfield Giants |
| The Willows, Salford |
| Friday 11 May, 8pm |
| Carnegie Challenge Cup - Round 5 |
Form team Huddersfield swept past struggling Salford to extend their winning run to eight matches and book their place in the quarter-finals of the Carnegie Challenge Cup.
The Giants ended a 44-year wait to play in the Cup final last August but, on current form, might not have too long to wait for their next appearance.
The Yorkshiremen adapted superbly to atrocious conditions at a rain-sodden Willows to pile on the misery for Super League's bottom club, who benefited from the return of inspirational captain Malcolm Alker and competed for an hour.
Former Wigan stand-off Kevin Brown, who was ineligible to play in last year's Twickenham final, was Huddersfield's hero with two first-half tries, while Robbie Paul, a veteran of six Challenge Cup finals, sealed victory with a solo try on 61 minutes.
Salford, the last team to beat the Giants in any competition, led 6-2 after 24 minutes but finished a well beaten side and suffered another injury blow when forward Gareth Haggerty was carried off on a stretcher midway through the second half.
The Giants took an early lead, courtesy of an eighth-minute penalty from skipper Chris Thorman, the first of six goals from seven attempts, after prop John Skandalis was tackled high, and they made most of the early running.
Salford actually played the better football, with half-backs Luke Dorn and Luke Robinson moving the ball around in attractive fashion, but Huddersfield's safety-first tactics always looked the best option in the difficult conditions.
The visitors built pressure gradually through their workmanlike pack and enjoyed the territorial advantage without seriously threatening the Reds' line until the introduction of substitute Paul.
Against the run of play, the home side scored the game's first try after 24 minutes when Dorn held his footing on the slippery surface and jinked through the Huddersfield defence for a solo try, to which John Wilshere added the conversion.
But Salford's lead lasted just four minutes as the Giants took full advantage of Haggerty's knock-on deep inside his own half, with Brown dummying his way over for his first try.
The same player struck again just before the break, intercepting Dorn's floated pass and racing 40 metres unopposed to the line for his second try, to which Thorman added his third goal.
As the rain got heavier, turning the pitch into a quagmire, Huddersfield's eight-point interval lead began to look invincible.
The Giants' towering forwards helped tighten the visitors' stranglehold on the game and it was no surprise when they extended their lead, loose forward Stephen Wild crossing wide out after 53 minutes.
Thorman was off target with the boot for the first time but, at 18-6, there was no way back for Salford, who lost Haggerty with a leg injury on the hour.
The game was held up for five minutes before the forward was carried from the field on a stretcher.
With Karl Fitzpatrick, Aaron Moule, Ian Sibbit and Paul Highton already on the sidelines, the news keeps getting worse for the Reds, who are in desperate trouble at the foot of Super League.
Huddersfield made sure of the win when Paul forced his way over from dummy half and further tries from centres Jamahl Lolesi and Chris Nero in the final quarter merely illustrated their superiority.
Salford: Hodgson, Viane, Littler, McGuinness, Wilshere, Dorn, Robinson, Jewitt, Alker, Korkidas, Coley, Brocklehurst, Finnigan.
Replacements: Haggerty, Gower, Ratchford, Edmondson.
Huddersfield: Thorman, Reilly, Lolesi, Nero, Aspinwall, Brown, Drew, Mason, Hudson, Skandalis, Snitch, Raleigh, Wild.
Replacements: Paul, Crabtree, Jackson, Griffin.
Referee: R Silverwood (Dewsbury)
|
Salford |
10 |
Huddersfield |
36 |
|
Tries: Dorn, Littler |
Paul, Brown (2), Lolesi, Nero, Wild |
|
Goals: Wilshere
|
Thorman (6) |
|
|
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Half time:6-14 |
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"Something has to change. We need a performance and a win. There are too many people in key positions not playing well and confidence is obviously very low."
- Karl Harrison |
Salford, who were the last team to beat Huddersfield, were boosted by the return of inspirational captain Malcolm Alker and led 6-2 after Luke Dorn scored the game's first try on 24 minutes.
But they faded badly in the second half and lost substitute forward Gareth Haggerty with a neck injury. The game was held up for five minutes for him to have treatment and he was taken to hospital after the match.
"He said his neck cracked but I don't know how serious it is," said Reds coach Karl Harrison, who broke with tradition by sending his assistant into the dressing room to deliver the post-match talk.
"I think it was time for Jimmy Lowes to have a talk to them, rather than me," he said.
Salford have won just one of their last seven matches and are currently three points adrift at the foot of the table.
Harrison added: "Something has to change. We need a performance and a win. There are too many people in key positions not playing well and confidence is obviously very low.
"We had a pretty strong team on the field so injuries are not an excuse. We need to stop feeling sorry for ourselves and just get on with it."
