Reload: Giants 31-30 Salford

By Jack Robinson

We take a look back at a thrilling encounter between the two sides at the AJ Bell Stadium back in 2016 for this week’s Throwback Thursday.

The Red Devils took the lead after five minutes. Robert Lui ran at our line and fed the ball to Craig Kopczak, five metres out, the prop forward then forced his way over the line, to score to the right of our sticks. Gareth O’Brien converted the try to give the hosts an early 6-0 lead. We responded in the 10^th minute. We went down the short side near Salford’s line and Jake Connor stumbled his way over the try-line in the left corner. Danny Brough missed the conversion, so the Red Devils remained 6-4 ahead.

We then took the lead in the 26^th minute, Ukuma Ta’ai received the ball ten metres from the line, he refused to be stopped as he forced his way over on the right-hand side. Brough’s conversion giving us a 10-6 lead. We scored our third try on the half hour mark, a great one at that too! The move started in our own half, as we threw the ball through several pairs of hands, it ended with Brough offloading to Leroy Cudjoe ten metres from the line, and he finished the great move off underneath the sticks. Brough’s conversion made it 16-6, as we moved towards the interval.

Salford did get a try back before the break though. A left to right move close to our line saw Daniel Vidot stroll in at the right hand corner. O’Brien kicked the conversion from the right touchline to make it 16-12 at half-time.

Danny Brough scored a penalty early on in the second half to make it 18-12. Salford then levelled the game in the 55^th minute. Josh Jones picked the ball up ten metres out from our line, he avoided a few tackles before scoring on the left-hand side. O’Brien’s conversion made it 18-18, as we approached the last quarter of the game. We re-took the lead in the 62^nd minute though, Brough fed the ball to Eorl Crabtree close to the Red Devils’ line, and the big man wasn’t going to be stopped, as he twisted and turned his way over to score. Brough’s conversion gave us a 24-18 lead.

Another great try further extended our lead. Jamie Ellis made a great break in the middle of the field, before passing on his inside to Kyle Wood, he then threw the ball wide to Joe Wardle and he strolled in the corner go give us a cushion. Brough’s conversion made it 30-18, with 15 minutes left. Justin Carney was sin-binned for a tipper tackle on Brough minutes later, for the Red Devils. Brough then picked himself up to score the crucial drop-goal in the 73^rd minute, which made it 31-18.

Salford made it a nervy finish with two late tries. Current Huddersfield Giant, Josh Jones, added his second try with four minutes left, stretching out to score in the left corner, after a poor pass out wide, he picked it up well to score. O’Brien’s conversion from the left touchline narrowed the scoreline to 31-25. Daniel Vidot then scored in the right-hand corner with two minutes left to increase our nerves. O’Brien’s conversion from the right touchline made it 31-30, and that is how it ended, as we won in Greater Manchester to take the two points back to West Yorkshire.