Round 19
Salford City Reds 17 d. Bradford Bulls 16

2006 English Super League Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: United Kingdom > National > First Grade Competition: English Super League

Salford clinch nailbiting win
Sun July 2, 2006
Source: www.superleague.co.uk

Junior Langi touched down twice as Salford ended their two-match losing streak by edging out Bradford 17-16 to climb to fifth in the engage Super League.

Salford had lost their previous two games at The Willows by last-gasp drop goals but this time they held on as Bulls scrum-half Paul Deacon missed a late one-pointer to level the scores.

Yet the Reds had fallen behind early as Andrew Dunemann's speculative pass was intercepted by Karl Pryce, who raced away to score.

Bradford, bidding to stretch their three-match unbeaten run, came close to extending their lead moments later but Simon Finnigan intervened to prevent Deacon getting his pass away.

Salford withstood the early pressure and bounced back after Brett Ferres was sinbinned midway through the first half for interference.

The Reds made it count with their first try created by Luke Robinson's clever kick, from which Aaron Moule sent Langi over for his fourth try of the season. David Hodgson landed a touchline conversion to give the home side a 6-4 lead.

Salford grabbed a second try moments later with Robinson again the provider, the stand-off sending Langi crashing over. Dunemann then notched a drop goal just before half-time to give Salford an 11-4 interval lead.

Bradford, without Kiwi winger Lesley Vainikolo because of a knee injury sustained during the XXXX Test against Great Britain on Tuesday, hit back after the restart with Ferres crossing after clever work from Deacon.

Salford, who were thrashed 58-0 by the Bulls last year, welcomed back Aussies Kevin McGuinness and Dunemann after they had missed the trip to St Helens last week.

And the Reds had a lucky break early in the second half when Terry Newton's try was disallowed for offside as the visitors began to mount serious pressure.

Bradford lost substitute Andy Smith, who left the field with concussion, but rallied to retake the lead with Ben Harris scoring to set up a nail-biting finale.

Salford though, who had only won one out of 18 previous Super League meetings against Bradford, replied with Robinson jinking over for a fine solo effort and Stephen Myler added the conversion to give the Reds a 17-16 lead.

Deacon failed to land a drop goal with two minutes remaining and Salford hung on to record a memorable victory.

Report source: www.superleague.co.uk

Article: Salford win comes at a price

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