MATCH REPORT | Salford Red Devils 24-0 London Broncos
Salford Red Devils earned a hard-fought 24-0 victory over Super League new boys London Broncos, which puts Ian Watson’s side atop the table after the second round of fixtures.
MATCH DETAILS
The hosts went into the break through Ken Sio’s try on his competitive home debut. Salford pulled away in the second half with tries from Jackson Hastings, Niall Evalds and Josh Jones.
A real arm-wrestle ensued for the opening twenty minutes but the Red Devils did have the better of possession and it eventually paid off when Sio crossed following a neat offload from Jones.
Salford continued to control the first half; however, they failed to add any more points.
But it would take just two minutes of the second half for Salford to extend their lead. Evalds’ low kick came back off the uprights and Hastings was the quickest to react, getting his tally for the 2019 season underway.
London did apply some pressure to the Salford line, but they weren’t clinical enough when taking their slim chances. Hastings then added a penalty goal in the 55th minute to maintain control.
With ten minutes remaining, Evalds found an opening in the Broncos defence and jinked his way through for his fourth of the season already. Hastings would add the extras to all but confirm victory. Salford were reduced to twelve men with five minutes left as Lee Mossop was sent to the sin-bin for an altercation with Greg Richards.
The Red Devils weren’t done however, as Jones, who provided the assist for the opener, would get himself on the scoresheet in the final minute. The robust second-rower bounced off two London defenders before planting the ball down to round off a dominant performance at the AJ Bell Stadium.
FOUR POINTERS
It was all Salford
The home crowd at the AJ Bell Stadium couldn’t complain with the whitewash over London; they applied constant pressure and the Broncos floodgates opened after 20 minutes in the first half.
The League Leaders
After their comfortable victories over Huddersfield Giants and London Broncos, the Lancashire side find themselves group leaders of the Super League after two rounds.
A noble Man of the Match winner
As mentioned in the preview, it would be either Jackson Hastings or Jordan Abdull that would be the difference for their respective teams and it was Hastings that made the difference for Salford.
What happened to London?
It was a long day at the office for the Broncos. It wasn’t the performance we expected from a side that beat Wakefield Trinity comfortably last week. Instead this week, London rarely developed any chances and failed to take them when they came.
SCORERS
Salford Red Devils 24
Tries: Sio, Hastings, Evalds, Jones
Goals: Hastings (4)
Drop Goals: n/a
London Broncos – 0
Tries: n/a
Goals: n/a
Drop Goals: n/a
SQUADS
Salford: Evalds, Olpherts, Welham, Sau, Sio, Lui, Hastings, Mossop, Lussick, Dudson, Jones, Turgut, Flanagan.
Interchanges: Griffin, Burke, Nakubuwai, Tomkins.
London: Walker, Dixon, Morgan, Kear, Williams, Abdull, Cunningham, Mason, Fozard, Richards, Pitts, Gee, Yates.
Interchanges: Battye, Pelissier, Loane, Lovell.
