Salford Red Devils 24-20 Warrington Wolves: Highlights, player ratings and talking points

The seasons of Leeds Rhinos and Salford Red Devils are still alive after the Red Devils defeated Warrington Wolves in the fight for play off rugby with a Sam Stone try winning the game in golden point.

Highlights:

In the heat with two open and attacking sides meeting you always expected a lot of points in the meeting between the two and it only took a matter of minutes until we saw the opening try as a kick from Josh Drinkwater was fumbled by George Burgess straight into the hands of Matty Nicholson to score.

Salford looked to hit back straight away and gave the ball to Deon Cross in space. He cut inside squeezed through and went to ground the ball. There was a suspicion that he had dropped the ball so it was sent up to the video referee as a try where it was determined he had been tackled so a penalty was awarded.

There was another try disallowed at the other end when Paul Vaughan twisted and turned his way towards the try line but as he reached over he lost control of the ball.

This gave Salford the chance to level matters when after a Peter Mata’utia knock on a good line from Ben Hellewell allowed the backrower to carve through and score.

Warrington had the chance to move further clear when they kicked the ball wide and it was batted back to George Williams. He volleyed it but it went dead. Had he caught it or hit it with less venom it would have been a certain try.

They were made to regret that as a Stefan Ratchford error then allowed Brodie Croft to score a simple try.

But straight after the break Warrington hit back with a try that was just like their first as the ball was dropped by Ken Sio and picked up by Matty Nicholson to score.

Warrington then nailed a penalty for a high tackle and Ratchford kicked it to take the Wolves ahead but a fortunate Brodie Croft try gave the Red Devils the lead after a kick hit a defender and landed in his arms.

That try was followed by one for his opposite number George Williams after a great offload allowing the Wolves to take a 20-18 lead but it was all square heading into the final minutes as a deflected pass was taken by Gil Dudson who was in an offside position leaving it at 20-all and forcing golden point.

In golden point the drama continued with Marc Sneyd hitting the post with a shot at the drop goal.

They would go on to win through a try however with Sam Stone backing up a Joe Burgess try to score.

Talking Points:

Errors galore
With their play off hopes in the balance, both sides showed that they would massively have to improve if they want to compete in the play offs.

Channel 4
You have to sit and enjoy afternoon rugby on Channel 4 on a Sunday hopefully we get to see this again in 2024 and beyond.

Stone the hero
Needing a win, Stone was on hand to score after a great Joe Burgess break.

Player Ratings:

Salford Red Devils
1 Ryan Brierley – 8
2 Ken Sio – 7
28 Deon Cross – 7
4 Tim Lafai – 7
5 Joe Burgess – 7
6 Brodie Croft – 9
7 Marc Sneyd – 8
38 Brad Singleton – 7
9 Andy Ackers – 7
8 Jack Ormondroyd – 7
25 Ben Hellewell – 8
12 Sam Stone – 7
14 Chris Atkin – 7
Substitutes
10 King Vuniyayawa – 7
11 Andrew Dixon – 6
15 Danny Addy – 7
21 Amir Bourouh – 6

Warrington Wolves
1 Matt Dufty – 7
2 Josh Thewlis – 7
3 Peter Mata’utia – 6
4 Stefan Ratchford – 7
5 Matty Ashton – 7
6 George Williams – 7
7 Josh Drinkwater – 7
18 Thomas Mikaele – 7
16 Danny Walker – 7
10 Paul Vaughan – 7
11 Ben Currie – 8
12 Matty Nicholson – 8
8 James Harrison – 7
Substitutes
14 Sam Kasiano – 6
17 Gil Dudson – 6
9 Daryl Clark – 6
35 Jordy Crowther – 6