DEVILS LEAVE IT TOO LATE
Salford 20 Widnes 30 Match Report – David Clegg
A desperate last ten minute onslaught by the Salford Red Devils failed to overturn the sixteen point deficit they had been facing for much of the second half, to the disappointment of the many Salford fans who had done their level best to spur the out of sorts Devils into action.
It was always going to take a significant improvement in tempo to overturn seventy minutes of what had been a quite uninspiring performance on what was surely one of the most important games of the season. In a home tie, with a marvellous quarter final prize on offer, no player should have needed any motivating for a fixture against an opposition which had singularly failed to impress throughout the season, away from their Select Security stronghold.
Yet the lack of urgency for the contest was apparent from the very outset, when good field position, as a result of two separate penalties, was squandered by handling errors early in the tackle count, on both occasions. Widnes, upon gaining two back to back penalties, though, showed how to use the position and possession, to effect, when their much slicker handling opened up the home defence for their first try, on ten minutes, from Galea, and then five minutes later took their advantage to twelve unanswered points, courtesy Brown.
The Red Devils did manage to force their way back into the reckoning on twenty five minutes, when Gareth Hock (above), easily their most threatening strike player, made one of a number of powerful runs, at a good angle from close in, and forced himself over to open the home account.
With fullback, Jake Mullaney, missing, the goal-kicking duties fell to Tommy Lee, operating at loose forward, on the day, but facing a strong wind was unable to land the conversion, and the Vikings re-established their ascendency by means of a god kicking game which included one forty-twenty. Five minutes from the interval, they crossed yet again, this time through Hanbury to give them a convincing, but not unassailable, 4-18 lead.
Seven minutes after the restart and that lead looked completely safe, when Hanbury crossed for his second, and although Salford’s deserved man of the match, Junior Sa’u (right), scored in the corner, it was, once again four points, as opposed to Widnes’s regularly six.
The introduction of Tim Smith form the bench, just before half time had done much to improve the speed of the attack, and 
gradually the home side started to claw their way back into the contest as possession became more evenly distributed between the sides. The visitors’ conceding of back to back penalties, on seventy minutes, therefore proved to be the catalyst which sparked the way for a thrilling ending that almost led to a turnaround in fortunes.
First, Lama Tasi (left) charged through from 15m out, spun out of a tackle to ground by the post, while following the subsequent kick off, Sa’u broke down the left, and Hock finished off a 60m break to bag his brace. With Lee’s conversions to both of these, Widnes were looking decidedly shaky, and three repeat sets culminated with Meli’s being denied at the corner as he headed for the line.
Even then the drama was not over, for with seconds remaining, one last bit of possession came their way, and throwing caution to the wind, the Devils attempted to create something out of nothing. That of course can just as easily lead to further damage rather than the hoped-for rewards, and so it proved on this occasion. The ball was unfortunately lost backwards, and Widnes took possession to score some twenty seconds after the final hooter, for their fifth six-pointer of the afternoon, and with it ensure their ball went into the bag, for the sixth round draw.
