Salford Red Devils were beaten by a singular Ugo Tison drop-goal in tonight’s Betfred Super League clash with the Catalans Dragons.
With the Reds bouncing from their previous outing, they returned home to face Joel Tomkins’ new-look Dragons side, looking for back-to-back victories.
They quickly stamped their authority on the contest with a quick shift early on, releasing Nathan Connell down the wing in open field to gain valuable territory.
The same source almost opened the scoring when he appeared to get on the end of Joe Mellor’s break through the right edge, dotting down acrobatically in the corner.
However, despite managing to stay in the field of play, the video referee deemed there was ‘clear separation’ between Connell’s hand and the ball upon grounding.
Rowan Milnes’ kicking game has been a highlight of a fruitful loan spell for the halfback, and in wet conditions, he was able to cause even more trouble for Catalans fullback, Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet, who spilled a high bomb in the 15th minute.
From the resulting set, Milnes slipped Leon Ruan through a gap, and his offload allowed Jack Darbyshire to crash over for his second try in Salford colours.
Catalans hit straight back via a spell of poor discipline from the Reds, who conceded back-to-back penalties and allowed the field position for Aispuro-Bichet to take advantage of the numbers on the right edge.
The young prospect was at the heart of almost every action in the first-half, both bad and good. His loose carry and Dan Russell’s tackle caused a spill on a kick return, with Isaac Shaw picking up the ball and firing a pass out to Neil Tchamambe, who dotted down.
From the restart, there was a lengthy stoppage after a collision between Emmanuel Waine and Franck Maria that left the Salford man needing urgent medical treatment.
He was taken from the field on a stretcher, and the Catalans prop was shown a red card for his challenge.
That took us through to half-time, where the Reds held a six-point advantage and real hope of causing another Super League upset.
However, in a second-half full of errors, the Dragons’ physicality took over and started to roll the Red Devils further towards our own try line.
Jordan Dezeria was the one to eventually cross for the Dragons, spotting a gap to the right of the sticks to slide over and, after Aispuro-Bichet’s conversion, level the scores.
Salford tried to wrestle back momentum after a good defensive effort. Some genius off-the-cuff play from Milnes sent Jack Walker bursting through the middle with a short chip, and the fullback’s subsequent kick forced a GLDO.
From the resulting set, Russell almost sent Connell over in the corner with a neat flick, but the ball was just behind the onrushing winger.
Going back down the other end, it was the returning Esan Marsters who this time came up with an error that allowed Denive Balmforth the time and space to slide over to fire Catalans into the lead.
A conversion and a further drop-goal from Ugo Tison extended the Dragons’ advantage to seven points – a perhaps unassailable lead.
There was no doubting the Reds’ spirit, however, with the very last play of the game producing a reward for their efforts.
From a scrum, Declan Murphy found a half-yard of space to pick out Jack Walker, whose kick over the top was expertly batted back by Darbyshire, allowing Tchamambe to bag a brace.
Next up for the Reds is a trip to the Accu Stadium and a meeting with the Huddersfield Giants, next Sunday.
MATCH FACTS:
Salford XIII: Jack Walker, Neil Tchamambe, Esan Marsters, Jack Derbyshire, Nathan Connell, Rowan Milnes, Joe Mellor, Loghan Lewis, Sam Davis, Justin Sangare, Leon Ruan, Dan Russell, Harvey Wilson
Interchanges: Tiaki Chan, Declan Murphy, Emmanuel Waine, Isaac Shaw.
Tries: Jack Darbyshire, Neil Tchamambe (2).
Conversions: Rowan Milnes (2/3)
Catalans Dragons XIII: Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet, Lenny Marc, Matthieu Laguerre, Reimis Smith, Nick Cotric, Cesar Rouge, Ugo Tison, Romain Navarrete, Alrix Da Costa, Paul Seguier, Ben Garcia, Bayley Sironen, Tevita Pangai Jnr.
Interchanges: Arthur Romano, Jordan Dezaria, Franck Maria, Denive Balmforth.
Tries: Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet, Jordan Dezaria, Denive Balmforth.
Conversions: Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet (2/3)
Drop-goals: Ugo Tison (1/1)
HT: 10-4
FT: 16-17
