Salford claimed their first win of the season after defeating Hunslet 29-18, who remained winless after their opening round defeat to Dewsbury.
Salford were undefeated in their last 16 meetings with Hunslet and continued this impressive run thanks to two tries from Wigan Warriors loanee Noah Hodgkinson, as well as tries from Brad Dwyer, Ollie Garmston and Nathan Lowe.
It was yet another defeat for Kyle Trout’s Hunslet who last recorded victory against Salford in a 16-12 win in February 1967.
Despite heavy rain in the opening stages, Hunslet started the game with better chances early on with Lee Gaskell kicking a 40/20 in the 16th minute, putting Kyle Trout’s side in great position to open the scoring.
Moments later the visitors went ahead as Eddie Battye crossed the tryline for the first of the game.
Mike Grady’s side came under more pressure from the kickoff with Hunslet looking to double their lead, however young centre Deacon Connolly made an impressive interception nearly running the length of the field before being tackled 10 yards out.
Momentum had shifted in the stadium as Salford moved the ball out wide to expose a retreating Hunslet defence when on the last tackle a Matty Ross kick forced a goal line drop out.
The reds finally made this pressure count as captain Brad Dwyer fought his way through and scored Salford’s first home try of their 2026 Championship campaign.
Salford then went ahead after a nice passing sequence on the right-hand side which led to a slicing pass from Toby Hughes to Noah Hodgkinson who cut through the defence to score on debut.
Noah Hodgkinson scored to complete a first half comeback as Salford went into the break leading 12-6.
Hunslet started the second half quickly, applying early pressure on the Salford defence, with Rafael Van Osselaer knocking on from a Lee Gaskell kick.
Hunslet kept piling pressure on Salford’s tryline defence until Mo Agoro strolled over on the right edge to score Hunslet’s second try of the game.
Kyle Trout’s men continued strongly with Eddie Battye making a decisive line break before the former Huddersfield Giants and Wakefield Trinity halfback Lee Gaskell ran the ball in for a try to put the Yorkshire side ahead.
Salford hit back in the 57th minute as Brad Dwyer scooted out from dummy half before placing an inch-perfect kick right into the path of the oncoming Noah Hodgkinson who strolled over for his second try of the afternoon.
The 20-year-old fullback sent the Salford faithful into jubilee as he grounded the ball under the sticks before celebrating in front of the south stand.
However, in the 65th minute, Salford captain Brad Dwyer was sent to the sin bin by referee Innes Arnold after a scuffle between both sets of players leaving Salford down to 12 players heading into the final stages.
Moments later, the away side capitalised on the player advantage as Lee Gaskell ran in a carbon copy of his first try on the left edge to level up the game.
Dan Abram missed the conversion after a deflection off the post couldn’t guide the ball between the sticks leaving the game level at 18-18 heading into the final 15 minutes of the game.
Hunslet were on the attack with five minutes to go when Ollie Garmston intercepted a long ball and ran the length of the field to slide under the posts with five minutes to play to give the reds a crucial lead with only moments to play.
Then, with only 40 seconds left to play, Salford halfback Toby Hughes scored a drop goal to remember and seal the win for Mike Grady’s spirited Salford.
With the game already wrapped up, this youthful Salford side pushed for more as Nathan Lowe put the cherry on top diving into the corner to secure a memorable 29-18 victory, continuing an impressive record defeating Hunslet in their last eight home matches between the sides.
By Aydin Gorgun
