The Reds were unable to best the Wigan side who dominated for the majority of the match, though it wasn’t all negative for the home side as Connell scored his first Super League try, leaving the score 6-46.
Salford’s defence started strong as they prevented two Wigan attempts in the opening minutes with debut, Sam Hill, making a great try-saving tackle on Keighran
Unfortunately, Field made a break right down the pitch and, despite Vaughan being hot on his tail, grounded the ball for the first points of the night.
Wigan soon followed this up with another as an offside penalty at the line gave them a second set and Douglas was able to cross in the right corner.
It looked promising for Salford as they pushed Wigan almost to the line but they ultimately reached the tackle count and were forced to handover.
An Keighran line break saw him run down field before chipping the ball into the try zone. Field managed to catch the ball just in time to ground the ball for his second of the game.
The Reds kept challenging the Warriors though, pulling Nsemba into touch after he caught the ball. Off the back of this, Salford got to the line and were almost able to get points but just couldn’t reach the chip.
To Salford’s disappointment, Farrimond broke through their defence and passed to Douglas who finished the effort for his second try of the night, just before Foster could reach him.
With a minute left of the first half, Marshall knocked on and gave the Reds a scrum but, with only 10 seconds left, they were unable to make something out of it.
Salford had another close call at the line after regaining possession 10 out and Ormondroyd made an attempt to cross but unfortunately didn’t quite make it and Wigan were given the ball.
Wigan pushed themselves ahead once again as Keighran crossed in the right corner and converted his own try.
Eckersley was next on the scoreboard after a pass to Marshall and back allowed them to evade Salford’s defence and get over the try line.
The Reds still refused to give up though and a hard tackle by Sangare forced a Wigan knock-on. From the scrum, they pushed straight to the try line and after multiple attempts, Sam Hill was able to cross. However, the try was disallowed due to a forward pass.
Winning the race to the line on the right wing, Douglas was able to cross for the hat trick.
Salford took another attempt at the line as Connell chipped the ball into the right corner but the ball bounced out before anyone could reach it.
Hankinson then made a try-saving move as he hit the ball out before Marshall could get his hands on it.
With only minutes left on the clock, the Salford crowd went wild as they finally got points on the board. Shorrocks broke through the Warriors’ defence and passed to Connell who raced to the try line and dove over the whitewash for his first Super League try! A well deserved celebration for him.
Sadly, it didn’t end on a high for Salford as Wigan scored the final points of the game as
MATCH FACTS:
Salford XIII: Nathan Connell, Sam Hill, Jonny Vaughan, Sam Stone, Chris Hankinson, Esan Marsters, Ryan Brierley (C), Jack Ormondroyd, Kai Morgan, Joe Bullock, Matty Foster, Joe Shorrocks, Harvey Wilson
Interchanges: Justin Sangare, Charlie Glover, Tiaki Chan, Toby Warren
Tries: Connell
Conversions: Hankinson (1/1)
Wigan Warriors XIII: Jai Field, Jacob Douglas, Zach Eckersley, Adam Keighran, Liam Marshall, Jack Farrimond, Harry Smith, Liam Byrne, Brad O’Neill, Tyler Dupree, Junior Nsemba, Ethan Havard, Kaide Ellis
Interchanges: Bevan French, Patrick Mago, Harvie Hill, Kian McDermott
Tries: Field (2), Douglas (3), Keighran, Eckersley, Farrimond
Conversions: Keighran (7/8)
HT: 0-22
FT: 6-46
