Leigh Leopards 20-22 Salford Red Devils: Highlights, player ratings and talking points

A superb game in the sunshine kept fans watching right till the end as Salford defeated Leigh this afternoon.

Highlights:

Charnley continues scoring
Josh Charnley is in red hot form at the moment and he produced an acrobatic finish today to open the scoring. A lovely pass from Lachlan Lam gave the winger just enough space to dart down the line and squeeze in.

Salford spine combines to create try for Sio
Just like with the Leigh try, penalties allowed Salford down the other end of the field and all of their ball players combined to put Ryan Brierley out the back where his kick behind enabled Ken Sio to ground in the corner.

Stone carves over
A former Leigh player devastated his former club to give Leigh the lead. After some fancy tries, it was a simple move that gave Sam Stone enough space to tear through and score.

Back to back tries for the Devils
An outstanding touch of class from Chris Atkin at 13 allowed him to pop through partially and pass the ball to Shane Wright and he found support in the shape of Brodie Croft for one of the best tries in Rivals Round.

Ipape prompts yellow from Brierley
Edwin Ipape started the second half in brilliant form tearing Salford to pieces and his second break of the half prompted a Brierley try saving tackle but the fullback was then sin binned for interference.

Briscoe barges over
After a certain try for Briscoe disappeared moments earlier when Ed Chamberlain held onto the ball an unstructured last play gave Briscoe a second chance and a lovely step back inside and his power allowed him to power over.

Dupre gets over for vital score
Holding on with just 12 men on the field, a try for the Red Devils was vital and a short ball and a good line from Tyler Dupree saw the prop crash over.

Josh Charnley scores sensational try
This was a try that looked certain to be disallowed but as the video referee reviewed the try it showed that after kicking the ball, he was able to get back in field and ground the ball. A magic moment that saw him defy the odds to ground the ball after coming back in field.

Late drama
Leigh gave themselves 11 second to try and find a winning try after a brilliant try which started in their own half was finished by Ben Reynolds thanks to a favourable deflection.

Talking Points:

Discipline costing both sides
This was a game where so many of the tries came from penalties given away by either side. As the season goes on this is something they need to address.

Penalty try?
There is an argument to be made that when players give away penalties in the situation that Ryan Brierley did that it should yield a penalty try as it could be said that it is stopping a certain try.

Missed chances
Leigh have started the season strongly but they need to be more clinical when the chances come and they will win more games.

Salford’s spine shines
The Salford spine makes them so brilliant to watch. Their set plays are so dangerous and Chris Atkin’s pass to create Salford’s third was sublime.

Try of the season?
Josh Charnley’s try in the second half was something sensational. He had no right to score and it could be the try of the season so far.

Player Ratings:

Leigh Leopards
1 Zak Hardaker – 7
2 Tom Briscoe – 7
3 Ed Chamberlain – 5
4 Ricky Leutele – 6
5 Josh Charnley – 8
15 Ben Reynolds – 6
7 Lachlan Lam – 7
8 Tom Amone – 7
9 Edwin Ipape – 8
10 Rob Mulhern – 7
16 Oliver Holmes – 5
24 Kai O’Donnell – 7
13 John Asiata – 7
Substitutes
12 Jack Hughes – 5
27 Ava Seumanufagai – 5
22 Tom Nisbet – 5
18 Matt Davis – 5

Salford Red Devils
1 Ryan Brierley – 7
2 Ken Sio – 7
28 Deon Cross – 6
24 Matt Costello – 8
5 Joe Burgess – 6
6 Brodie Croft – 7
7 Marc Sneyd – 7
16 Tyler Dupree – 8
9 Andy Ackers – 7
10 King Vuniyayawa – 6
3 Kallum Watkins – 7
12 Sam Stone – 7
15 Danny Addy – 7
Substitutes
11 Andrew Dixon – 6
14 Chris Atkin – 8
17 Shane Wright – 7
25 Ben Hellewell – 7