Salford Red Devils v Leigh verdict as Leopards win to move second in Super League

Salford Red Devils hosted high-flying Leigh Leopards looking for an improbable win and here’s our verdict on the game.

The Leopards won 28-6 to move into second place in Super League but it wasn’t a performance that Adrian Lam would have loved with Leigh making plenty of errors and unable to be truly ruthless and punish Paul Rowley’s side.

Salford battled throughout but early tries conceded in both halves saw the game slip from them, despite the fact they finished both halves strongly.

Both teams saw plenty of changes, including some late on with AJ Towse stepping up from 18th man for Leigh after Keanan Brand suffered a calf injury in the warm-up. Andrew Badrock was the other centre whilst Ben McNamara started at hooker due to Edwin Ipape’s ban.

As for Salford, captain Ryan Brierley missed out through an ear infection and last week’s star Tiaki Chan had a hamstring issue. As such, Kai Morgan played full-back and Leeds Rhinos loanee Toby Warren was named to the bench for a Super League debut.

Salford Red Devils’ slow start costs them against Leigh

Full-time at the Salford Community Stadium.

🤝 @CladLtd & @hselec_ pic.twitter.com/dpAkT50VxY

— Salford Red Devils 👹 (@SalfordDevils) April 26, 2025

Salford gave up possession on their first set and that saw Leigh capitalise with Andrew Badrock scoring after just 86 seconds with that score doubled to 8-0 when AJ Towse crossed over in the opposite corner after eight minutes.

Thankfully for the Red Devils, both tries were unconverted and despite a change in goal kicker, so was the third. That came on the 20-minute mark when Darnell McIntosh grounded Lachlan Lam’s clever grubber kick. Salford rarely threatened and were perhaps fortunate that Leigh had so many changes in their own team or they might have been put to the sword.

Andrew Badrock did score another before half-time and after three failed conversions, normal kicker Gareth O’Brien took over and slotted it between the posts to make it 18-0 just before the break.

Salford thought they’d got on the scoresheet after 43 minutes but Harvey Makin’s try was ruled out and Leigh punished that when Matty Davis crossed over minutes later to make it 24-0, however, the Leopards’ ruthless streak seemed to end.

They lumbered through the majority of the second-half with Salford even managing to pull on back through Joe Shorrocks  after a smart break from the ever-lively Jayden Nikorima. It wasn’t until the 79th minute that Leigh managed to score again as Josh Charnley scored his 311th career try to make it 28-6.

Good day for

AJ Towse was slated to be 18th man but he stepped up when Keanan Brand pulled up in the warm-up and the former York winger took his chance brilliantly. He played plenty earlier in the year and he’s given Adrian Lam food for thought going forward.

Bad day for

Adrian Lam’s side got the two points but he will not have gotten the type of performance he’d be satisfied with. It’s rare a team move into second a coach be disappointed but you’d expect that to be the case for Lam who also saw Keanan Brand suffer injury.

Star man

Andrew Badrock was drafted into the centres in the absence of Tesi Niu, Umyla Hanley and the aforementioned Brand and he proved himself to be an excellent choice for the role. The youngster scored two and was another who made good on his chance.

Teams

Salford Red Devils XIII: Kai Morgan; Nathan Connell, Esan Marsters, Jonny Vaughan, Jake Thewlis; Jayden Nikorima, Joe Mellor; Jack Ormondroyd, Sam Davis, Harvey Makin; Ben Hellewell, Joe Shorrocks, Harvey Wilson

Interchanges: Finlay Yates, Justin Sangare, George Hill, Toby Warren

Leigh Leopards XIII: Bailey Hodgson; Darnell McIntosh, Andrew Badrock, AJ Towse, Josh Charnley; Gareth O’Brien, Lachlan Lam; Owen Trout, Ben McNamara, Robbie Mulhern; Ethan O’Neill, Jack Hughes, Isaac Liu

Interchanges: Louis Brogan, Nathan Wilde, Matt Davis, Brad Dwyer