The Catalans Dragons had the perfect opportunity to build on the success of last weekends win over the Warrington Wolves as the Salford Red Devils paid a visit to the Stade Gilbert Brutus. Salford, on the other hand, needed a confidence boost after a painful defeat at the hands of front-runners St Helens.
A home win would push the Dragons above Salford into fifth spot but the Red Devils knew that if they could secure the points then they’d be into the top four, stepping ahead of Hull FC in the league ladder.
Fifth played seventh as both sides looked to boost their league position.
It ttok the visitors eight minutes of pressure to breach the Dragons line when Joey Lussick went with a powerplay on the last and crashed through the defence to ground on the line. Ken Sio added the conversion for the best possible Salford start.
The Dragons couldn’t make possession count in the Red Devils half and were frustrated by ball spills in try scoring positions. When Michael McIlorum was offside at the play the ball on twenty-seven, Sio kicked the penalty from within the Dragons twenty for 8-0.
A superb Lui pass found George Griffin who crashed through the last line of Dragons defence to touch down for the Red Devils second try of the evening. Sio added a simple conversion for a 14-0 lead
In a final throw of the dice for the Dragons, Sam Tomkins lost the ball close to the Salford line. The ball was picked up by Sio who broke downfield before hacking the ball forward and chasing his own kick. The ball bounced awkwardly in the Dragons goal area as Sio was pushed out of the way and Jake Bibby managed to get a hand on the bouncing ball for a four pointer. Sio hit the left upright with his conversion attempt but the Dragons had been rocked by an excellent first half performance which left them trailing by 18-0.
Just thirty seconds into the second half and Bibby scored again, this time after a fifty metre break downfield and a nice one-two with Jackson Hastings as the Catalans defence couldn’t lay a hand on the quicksilver attackers. Sio converted brilliantly from the touchline for 24-0.
Salford were running red hot when Niall Evalds hacked on a poor pass twice before the ball was picked up by Hastings into the hands of George Griffin to cross for another long range effort. Sio added the goal from under the sticks for an unthinkable 30-0.
On fifty-three a Bibby backhanded offload went to hand for Jackson Hastings and the scrum half went the remining ten metres to score one-handed. Sio was unable to add the extra two but the game was already beyond the home side and it was now just a matter of the margin of the Red Devils victory.
Evalds grabbed Salford’s seventh unanswered try on fifty-nine as he took a Lussick pass and went to ground, sliding over by the left upright. Sio kicked his sixth goal of the evening for a 40-0 lead with twenty minutes still for the home support to endure.
On sixty-seven the Red Devils were put on a team warning after conceeding three quick penalties but despite plenty of pressure close to the line the Dragons still couldn’t get over.
Sio crowned a special might for himself and the Red Devils when he stepped out of a tackle, crossed the line, and rounded under the posts after taking a one-handed Bibby pass. He added the extra two himself for 46-0.
A stunning performance from Salford who got on a roll early and who then never let the Dragons settle into any kind of a game plan. Although the Dragons made a few unforced errors early in the game they were totally outplayed for eighty minutes and given a masterclass by the side who started the round only just above them in the league.
Dragons: Tomkins, Yaha, Whitley, Wiliame. Tierney, Langi, Smith, Casty, McIlorum, Moa, Edwards, Jullien, Baitieri. Subs: Bird, Bousquet, Goudemand, Belmas.
Red Devils: Evalds (T), Olpherts, Welham, Bibby (2T), Sio (T, 7G), Lui, Hastings (T), Murray, Lussick (T), Dudson, Jones, Turgut, Flanagan. Subs: Burke, Nakubuwai, Griffin (2T), Lawton.
Referee: Scott Mikalauskas.
Half-Time: 0-18.
Full-Time: 0-46.
Attendance: .
