LOOKING M UCH MORE LIKE A TEAM

Salford 4  Wigan 25                           Match Report – David Clegg

profile_smithIt may well be that at the end of the season we will look back at this match and realise that this was the moment in which the team really gelled defensively, for the majority of the game, to show the control, for which Head Coach Iestyn Harris has been striving.  There was certainly evidence of this throughout the whole game, against the form team in Super League.

Was this reflected in the score?  Not a bit of it, but it certainly was for up to 39 minutes of the game, with both teams’ stubborn resistance constantly denying the attack except on the  occasions upon which the video referee was called in to adjudicate, and up until then we were all, consequently, expecting the half time score to be a pointless draw.

That this was not to be the case for the remaining 41 mins, however, has to be put down to the overall excellence of Wigan, recent victors over Leeds at the Magic Weekend, who, on the four occasions they were able to cross for their scores, did so only by exploiting their extra pace out on the flanks.  This is hardly surprising when you take into consideration the fact that  the Devils finished with a backline which included Tommy Lee and Matty Ashurst as a result of injuries to centres, Martin Gleeson and Junior Sa’u.

The attack, in comparison though, was rather ponderous and unimaginative, but the conditions were hardly conducive to slick handling and expansive attacking rugby, with both sides spilling possession in equal numbers, in the first ten minutes.  Thereafter, it became a case of showing control and completing sets as both sides settled into a war of attrition.

The paucity of tries in the first half may well have been attributable to the presence of television cameras, since it is feasible that some, if not all of these, might well have counted had they been adjudged solely at normal speed by an in-goal touch judge.  It would certainly have helped the game, and possibly encouraged both sides to have been a little more enterprising when in possession close to the line. 

francis_meliThe one aspect of the game which was really found wanting, though, was the Red Devils’ kicking game, and this despite an early 40-20 from Rangi Chase, followed by his finding touch from a 20m restart ten minutes later.  Great plays, but insufficiently backed up either in the rest of the first half, nor especially in the second when Wigan were able to take virtually every kick with consummate ease.

Salford’ s Man of the Match Award went, on this occasion, to the returning Tim Smith (above right), whom the judges considered not only looked extremely sharp in attack, but also weighed in with a notable tackle count, which contributed much towards our overall success in this area.

There have been many occasions in the past, on which Salford teams would have folded completely, but in fairness to our present side, they did, on this occasion, stick faithfully to their defensive systems, and were rewarded with the final try of the evening.  This was a typical Francis Meli (above left) score in the corner, and was some compensation for his first effort which was ruled out by the video referee for obstruction, and which, had it stood, might have changed the course of the game for the better.