Salford City Reds survived a late scare as they held out for a 34-30 victory under new coach Brian Noble against the Castleford Tigers in an entertaining fixture at the Salford City Stadium.

The Reds took a 16-14 lead into half time with tries from Matty Ashurst, Danny Williams and Andrew Dixon against tries for Castleford from Nathan Massey, Justin Carney and Adam Milner.

The second half proved a similar affair as the lead exchanged hands on a number of occasions as both sides took it in turn to score tries.

Vic Mauro opened the second half scoring for the Reds and Theo Fages added another against Oliver Holmes and Jamie Ellis’ efforts for the Tigers.

Jordan Thompsons’ late try put Castleford ahead but a rare mistake from Rangi Chase gave Ryan McGoldrick an interception inside his own half and the former Castleford man went over for the winning score.

Man of the match Marc Sneyd’s kicking proved the difference as his five goals from six attempts ensured that Salford would secure two priceless Super League points.

The Tigers took the lead after four minutes through Massey who scored from a few metres out after taking Chase’s pass. Castleford took advantage of the new advantage rule from Salford’s knock on. Chase found Kirk Dixon who kicked the ball down the line forcing Sneyd to kick the ball into touch giving Castleford a scrum inside the 20. Chase marshalled his attack and found Massey who went over.

Salford took the lead ten minutes later through Ashurst after McGoldrick threw a dummy pass which drew Ellis in. He then passed to Ashurst who found the gap in the line to score and Sneyd kicked the conversion to give his side the lead.

Castleford’s second try came through Carney from Weller Hauraki’s break up the middle. The second-row forward was stopped short of the line under the posts. The ball was played to Chase from dummy half and he sent out a bullet pass to Carney who batted Williams away to score in the corner.

Chase created another try for his side shortly after. The half back skipped through a gap and offloaded to Jordan Tansey who found Milner on his inside to score under the posts.

Salford pulled themselves back with a good finish from Williams in the corner. The Reds attacked the line and switched the play to the left hand side and good hands from McGoldrick, Fages and Gleeson found Williams who beat the Tigers’ defence to score. Sneyd missed the conversion and found themselves four points behind at 10-14.

Dixon levelled the scores after a calamitous effort in defence from Castleford. A high bomb fell to Fages who kicked a grubber through from the 10 metre line, Tansey couldn’t control the ball in goal and Dixon fell on the loose ball in the in-goal area. Sneyd kicked the Reds into a 16-14 halftime lead.

The Reds extended their lead further after a knock-on from Walker on halfway. Salford took the ball to the 10 metre line and Mauro took an offload to score under the posts.

Castleford brought themselves back with their first meaningful attack of the half. Chase again the architect ran across the line and passed the ball to Holmes who burst through a gap to run through the line and score between the sticks.

Salford added to their lead almost immediately after another mistake from Walker. The prop knocked on immediately from the restart giving Salford the ball in his half. The home side worked the ball to the right hand side and Fages brushed off a couple of tackles and stretched out his arm to plant the ball on the line from a few feet away.

Chase was at the heart of yet another Castleford try following a break down the right-hand side from Shenton. The centre was tackled on the 20 metre line and the Tigers began to work the ball forward. Chase spotted a gap and kicked a grubber which Ellis managed to get hold of to score.

Tansey was lucky not to have been sent to the sin bin for a bad high tackle on Williams. Referee Thierry Alibert instead put the incident on report but Salford failed to capitalise on their field position and knocked on in attack.

Castleford went ahead again after Thompson found space on the left hand side. Shenton made another break up the middle and Chase skipped towards the line drawing in Salford’s defence giving Thompson space on the wing to run in for the try.

Chase went from hero to villain in just a matter of minutes after throwing a bad pass to Shenton which was easily intercepted by McGoldrick. The Salford half back stood out of the line and plucked the ball out of the air to run in unchallenged for the Reds’ sixth try of the night.

The Tigers spurned a golden opportunity after some nice work from Chase. A grubber kick bounced kindly for Hauraki who ran up the middle but he fired a pass out to the left wing which Thompson tried to pass inside but it was intercepted by a Salford defender to stop the attack.

Salford survived a late scare to hang on to the lead. Castleford won the ball back inside the Reds’ 10 metre line from a kick but Dixon knocked on after taking offence to a tackle and the winger failed to play the ball properly. The Tigers threatened after winning their own goal-line drop out but couldn’t break through as the Reds took a 34-30 victory.

The win lifts Salford from the foot of the table as they leapfrog their opponents tonight to move up to seven points ahead of their game against Wigan next week. Castleford coach Danny Orr will be looking for a better result next week at home to Hull Kingston Rovers.


Salford: Sneyd, Broughton, Gibson, Gleeson, Williams; Fages, McGoldrick; Griffin, Godwin, Emmitt, Ashurst, Dixon, Wild
Replacements: Foran, Mauro, James, Walne

T: Ashurst, Williams, Dixon, Mauro, Fages, McGoldrick
G: Sneyd 5/6


Castleford: Tansey, Carney, Shenton, Thompson, Dixon; Chase, Ellis; Mason, Milner, Huby, Hauraki, Holmes, Massey
Replacements: Walker, Clark, Gilmour, Boyle

T: Massey, Carney, Milner, Holmes, Ellis, Thompson
G: Ellis 3/5, Dixon 0/1


Referee: Thierry Alibert


RLFANS Man of the Match: Marc Sneyd

Half Time: 16-14
Full Time: 34-30