RED DEVILS SPARKLE AS RHINOS FAIL AGAIN
MARK TAYLOR
SALFORD RED DEVILS 26
LEEDS RHINOS 12
► AJ Bell Stadium, Friday
SALFORD RED DEVILS piled the pressure on struggling Leeds Rhinos as they scored three tries in a thrilling final twelve minutes to claim a famous victory at the AJ Bell Stadium.
Rhinos coach Richard Agar described his side’s late collapse as a “capitulation” after Salford overturned a 12-8 deficit in the blink of an eye to end their own three-match losing run.
Chris Atkin, Elijah Taylor and Ryan Brierley scored late tries, which were all converted by Marc Sneyd, to give the scoreline a rather flattering look. Sneyd and his halfback partner Brodie Croft were hugely influential for Salford, whose backline showed plenty of attacking intent and invention from the start, with Deon Cross and Joe Burgess especially impressive.
Salford coach Paul Rowley was delighted with the way his players had reacted to his stinging criticism following the defeat to Hull KR seven days earlier.
Deon Cross closes down Liam Sutcliffe
“The boys responded brilliantly,” beamed Rowley.
“I think both myself and Richard (Agar) had called out our teams on their attitude and intent after the last game, so I was relieved and pleased the lads got their rewards for playing tough. It was nip and tuck but we stuck to our beliefs.