The Match...
Salford's final match of a roller coaster 2017 saw the visit of top four chasing St Helens. The visitors would move up to third with victory. The two sides had met twice already this season with Saints breaking Salford hearts 25-24 after a late drop goal last time they met. The Red Devil's supporters had been assured yesterday that a name change was off the agenda*, and come full time they could begin thinking about next season.
Salford made a good start to the game with a thrilling Manu Vatuvei break in the early stages. Niall Evalds opened the scoring with a superb try from a set scrum. Great ball movement and the star full back sliced through the Saints defence. Gareth O'Brien missed the goal 4-0. The Red Devil's started to make mistakes, spilling a lot of possession and allowing Saints to build pressure. Mark Percival levelled the scores in the 18th minute with a well worked try catching Kris Welham out in defence.
Salford's discipline started to let them down, conceding penalties but the defence was outstanding in the first half an hour of the game. Tyrone McCarthy worked tirelessly in both attack and defence. However, six minutes before half time, Alex Walmersley stormed over to put Saints ahead. Percival added the goal 4-10.
As half time loomed, the match caught fire when Walmersley seemed to elbow Jordan Walne. Referee James Child put the incident on report, much to the disgust of the Salford supporters. Seconds later Ryan Lannon was late on Theo Fages, and, after consulting the touch judges, the red card was shown.
Percival extended the lead to 4-12 with a penalty goal. The visitors were then strangely awarded another penalty when it looked like their player Tommy Makinson was the offender. Percival missed the kick at goal. Half time: 4-12
Much to Ian Watson's side's credit they continued to match Saints set for set. Gareth O'Brien kicked a clever 40-20 but Saints defence held firm. The score remained at 4-12 on the hour mark before Salford's heroic defence conceded to Zeb Taia from close range. Percival added the goal to take the game away from the hosts 4-18.
Substitute Matty Smith came up with a neat short ball to send Walmersley over for his second try. Percival again converted: 4-24. Salford were now looking tired, playing with twelve men and also losing Jordan Walne after the Walmersley incident. Jordan failed his head test so Salford were doing it tough with just two substitutes.
Ben Barba completed the scoring with a try two minutes from time to give the score a lob sided look. Percival converted. Final score: Salford 4 Saints 30.
Ian Watson was proud of the efforts of his side tonight, speaking after the match. The sending off and the incident just before had a huge bearing on the outcome of the game.
So that's it for another season, much improvement from Salford, although a tough back end of the year where the squad and resources really got tested. Ian Watson's young side will learn from this and I am sure they will be well prepared for next season.
Report by Paul Whiteside, Devil in the Detail
Star photographer, Gareth Lyons, adds: No matter the result or how bad the referee was, there is no excuse for violence, as a St Helens fan was attacked near full time. Others rushed in to try and escalate the situation, including a female. This is not the first time this season that scuffles have broke out and is, perhaps, one of the reasons why people do not go to watch Salford games when families cannot be safe. Banter is one thing, violence is another.
* The Name Change...
Simon Williams writes: Marwan Koukash finally came out and put to bed the rumour of the name change, from 'Salford' to 'Manchester'. The fans seemed delighted with the news: a new crest will be unveiled and the team will be remain as Salford Red Devils.
It is a pity he did not do it sooner after he employed a firm to do a survey with the fans, which, for me, was top-loaded with questions about the club's heritage. To me, this has hung over the club since the Millenium Weekend, when Salford were second in the league and looking good to challenge on all fronts. Sadly, injuries took their toll on a small squad.
There was that brilliant run in the Challenge Cup when we were unlucky to lose to Wigan in the semi-final, and even had more fans than Wigan as over 5,500 Salford supporters made the trip to Warrington. But for the last home game against Huddersfield the crowd was a paltry 1,460.
Surely better marketing is needed at the club, but the main thing is that the name remains. As much as I realise Marwan Koukash needs to find ideas to get more supporters into the ground, changing the name was not a good idea. Twitter was buzzing with news that Marwan was about to announce Big News on the club and I watched and laughed at some of the things being said.
Much as Marwan is a Marmite figure, he has a Salford coach, a Salford CEO and he has tried to bring some of the biggest names in rugby to the club. Seems to me he has been let down sometimes by people he trusted.
Photos by Gareth Lyons