This was a day when Salford hoped they could have moved as high as sixth in the Super League table but instead their place in the qualifiers and an imminent fight against relegation was assured.
Yet although they were soundly beaten on the night, coach Ian Watson’s talented side continue to represent a stark contrast to the off-field situation of the club. Most of the headlines have centred around the Red Devils owner, Marwan Koukash, following his failed bid on Thursday to overturn the club’s six-point deduction for breaching the salary cap two years ago.
For large parts here, Salford held their own against one of Super League’s best before being undone by self-inflicted errors and some moments of class from Warrington. After Koukash’s failure to secure victory off the field, this was an unwelcome ending to the day for the Red Devils. Salford’s challenge now turns to avoiding relegation to the second tier: for them, that would be unthinkable. “I feel this group has been hard done to for what’s happened in the past,” Watson said. “Clubs will look at some of our players and want to pick them off – but they’re a united group and we’ll stick together.”
With all Salford’s off-field drama, it was easy to overlook Warrington’s quest to move to within a point of the Super League summit. Had the former Warrington player Sean Kenny not dropped the ball over the line with Salford trailing 22-8, the game could have gone in a very different direction.
That moment proved telling as Warrington cut loose in the final quarter to put Salford through more misery on a desperate day for the club.
Koukash, fresh from attending the club’s two-day hearing in Manchester, watched from the stands as the Red Devils took an early 4-0 lead courtesy of Junior Sa’u’s try but a fine finish from Joe Westerman coupled with two Ryan Atkins tries in five minutes gave Warrington an 18-4 lead at half-time. Their edge play was arguably the difference and, after Tom Lineham crossed five minutes after the restart, they were in front 22-4.
To their credit Salford kept fighting and had Kenny touched down shortly after Josh Griffin’s try the game could have been set for a thrilling final quarter.
Instead, tries from Declan Patton, Matty Russell and a second for Westerman enabled Warrington to keep pace with the league leaders Hull and Wigan in some style.
“There was some good, bad and ugly in there – but it’s not doom and gloom,” said Tony Smith, the Warrington coach. “We’re there or thereabouts and we’ve as good a chance as anyone this year.”
Warrington Ratchford; Russell, Evans, Atkins, Lineham; Patton, Sandow; Hill, Clark, Sims, Currie, Hughes, Westerman. Interchange Dwyer, Westwood, G King, T King.
Tries Westerman 2, Atkins 2, Lineham, Patton, Russell. Goals Ratchford, Patton 5.
Salford O’Brien; Caton-Brown, J Griffin, Sa’u, Johnson; Lui, Dobson; Kopczak, Tomkins, G Griffin, Jones, Murdoch-Masila, Flanagan. Interchange Hauraki, A Walne, J Walne, Kenny.
Tries Sa’u, J Griffin, Lui. Goal O’Brien.
Referee J Cobb. Attendance 9,024.
