DEVILS’ DOMINANCE DISGUISED BY SCORELINE
Leeds 32 Salford 4 Match Report – David Clegg
One former Salford coach used to maintain that the most useless of all match statistics is the half time score. Whilst I can appreciate that to him, as coach, there is probably little he could gain from it, I consider that it does enable fans in general, and those unable to attend in particular, to understand how the game has unfolded, and to assess their team’s performance along with that of the opposition, in each part of the game.
Take for example Easter Monday’s encounter with Leeds, at Headingley. The contrast between the headline final score and the much closer 6-4 half time score could not be starker, and two things are immediately evident from that. Firstly, the quality of the defence of both teams in that first half was extremely good, which will have been of considerable encouragement to the Salford coaching staff.
Let us not forget that this was high-flying Leeds, whom we had limited to only one score in the whole of forty minutes, whilst the two point differential between the sides was down to Sinfield’s conversion to his fifth minute try being straight in front of the posts. Logan Tomkins’s (left) scoot, which brought Salford’s score, on 27 mins, saw him cross midway between the left hand upright and the corner post, leaving Jake Mullaney with a more angled conversion attempt.
One aspect, however, which the half-time score cannot show is the sheer dominance and overall superiority of the Red Devils over their most illustrious of opponents. For this we have to take account of how the Devils dominated possession, gaining five sets-of-six more than the home team, and then completing all their sets at a higher percentage than Leeds did with theirs. This meant that with their resultant commanding of field position, Salford were able to launch wave upon wave of attack on the home line.
By far the most significant factor of that period, however, was the number of times Salford crossed the Rhinos’ line only for the excellent, but overworked, defence to deny them the grounding. Had only half of these occasions brought about a score, they would have had a reasonable lead which would have provided some cushioning for them in the second half, when the game started to swing against them.
The first of these came on twenty minutes when good covering forced winger, Danny Williams, into touch, as he attempted to score in the corner. Three minutes later, in an almost identical replication on the left flank, Junior Sa’u was similarly denied. ![stuart_howarth]](/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/stuart_howarth.png)
Logan Tomkins, and skipper for the day, Rangi Chase, also joined the ranks of the unfortunates, when each of them was held up over the line, but by far the most clear-cut, and at the time, certain-looking score, came immediately after Tomkins’s try.
Interchange hooker, Stuart Howarth (right) had what undoubtedly must rank as his best game of the season as he grasped his returning opportunity with both hands. Not only did he work hard around the ruck, his defence was first rate and he put in some really good hits. His most memorable contribution, though, came when he broke clear some 30+ metres out, dummied fullback, Ben Jones-Bishop, and powered over the line, only to be thwarted by the excellent chasing back of speedsters Ryan Hall and Danny Mcguire, who together prevented his touchdown.
So instead of turning around at half time with the encouragement of the lead they so richly deserved, the Red Devils kicked off the second half still two points adrift, and as the final score shows, the second half was a somewhat different story. Two aspects of their own game conspired to spoil their chances of completing the upset which had looked to be on the cards ten minutes earlier.
A 6:1 penalty count in favour of the Rhinos tells its own story, bringing as each penalty does not only an extra bout of tackling to be undertaken but also the territorial loss which goes with it. Consequently the advantage Salford had enjoyed possession-wise, in the first half was completely reversed for the second forty, and the Devils were held in their own half for periods, as a result.
Even more unexpected, however, was the number of tries Leeds were able to score directly from collecting Salford’s end-of-set kicks, without a solitary tackle being made. Starting with Leeds’s doubling of their half-time tally, on 43 mins, a poor chase on their first kick of the half, allowed Leeds all the room he needed to tear through the middle of the advancing, fragile defensive line, and for Hardaker to complete a three man move, covering seventy metres.
That this would be repeated in almost identical circumstances on two further occasions hardly bears scrutiny. Having fallen for the sucker punch once, it might have been expected that efforts would have been made to ensure that it did not happen again. That it did is where responsibility lies for the totally lopsided look that the scoreboard had at the final whistle.
There were, nevertheless, far more positives for the team to take from the outing than negatives, and if there was any disappointment among the travelling fans it must surely be that the Red Devils’ endeavours and contribution to a quite exciting game was not reflected in the score line, nor in many of the headlines, the following day.
Leeds Scorers:
Tries: Sinfield, Hardaker, Burrow, Jones-Bishop, Hall, Briscoe
Goals: Sinfield 4
