Salford Red Devils went down to a narrow 14-8 defeat at much fancied Warrington Wolves in a final pre-season warm-up game at the Halliwell Jones.
Warrington raced into a 14-0 lead after 20 minutes and it looked as though it would be a long night for the Devils as they tried to gel in their first game against Super League opposition, but a piece of Rangi Chase magic as he scorched up the field and found Francis Meli out wide pegged the Wolves back to 14-4 at the break.
Early in the second half Chase found himself in the spotlight again as he headed to the sin-bin for 10 mins as Ben Thaler yellow-carded the half-back for a high tackle on Monaghan. Thaler took his time with the decision, first having to wait for the ensuing bout of fisticuffs to die down.
With the Devils down to 12 men many expected Warrington’s strong team to go on and overpower them but with reduced numbers Tim Smith found a piece of brilliance, by no means his only one of the night to find Greg Johnson with a kick and powerful centre raced in for the only score of the second period.
It was unfortunate Mullaney was unable to convert either effort but coach Brian Noble will have plenty to be encouraged by with a week of the close-season to go.
Don’t forget tickets for the Devils v Wildcats game at the AJ Bell Stadium next Sunday are available by clicking the TICKETS link at the top of the page. Fans are strongly advised to purchase ahead of Matchday to avoid queues and save money.
Warrington
Stefan Ratchford, Chris Riley, Chris Bridge, Ryan Atkins, Joel Monaghan, Michael Monaghan, Richie Myler, Chris Hill, Micky Higham, Roy Asotasi, Ben Westwood, Trent Waterhouse, Ben Currie
Subs: Jordan Burke, Brad Dwyer, Anthony England, Ben Evans, Rhys Evans, James Laithwaite, Gareth O’Brien, Gene Ormsby, Kevin Penny, Glenn Riley
Tries: J Monaghan, Westwood, C Riley
Goals:Westwood
Salford
Jake Mullaney, Danny Williams, Jason Walton, Junior Sa’u, Francis Meli, Rangi Chase, Tim Smith, Adrian Morley, Tommy Lee, Lama Tasi, Harrison Hansen, Matty Ashurst, Tony Puletua
Subs: Jordan Davies, Andrew Dixon, Niall Evalds, Theo Fages, Darrell Griffin, Stuart Howarth, Greg Johnson, Shannan McPherson, Jordan Walne
Tries: Meli, Johnson
Half Time: 14 – 4
Full Time: 14 – 8
Attendance: 3022
