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Salford City Reds 18 Celtic Crusaders 44

Dave Lawrenson
18/ 9/2008

SALFORD looked a bag of nerves on Thursday night and their fans are now scared stiff of missing out on a short Grand Final trip to Warrington.

A League One Grand Final appearance seemed to be a certainty when Salford secured the league leaders’ trophy.

After all, Salford had not lost at home in the league all season.

But they well and truly blew their first chance to book a Grand Final berth at the Willows.

And they will have to show much more composure if they are to make their second and final lifeline count when in-form Whitehaven come to town tonight, Thursday, September 18.

There are a lot of young players in Salford’s side and it showed in the Grand Final qualifier with Celtic.

The stage fright was there for all to see as a far more experienced Celtic team raced into a 16-0 lead with just 17 minutes on the clock.

The Reds managed to shake off their shocking start to a certain extent and they were unlucky to have tries by Karl Fitzpatrick and John Wilshere chalked off in contentious interference and knock on decisions by video referee Ben Thaler.

On another night, both tries would have stood.

But, with Salford missing a mammoth total of 22 tackles and with their completion rate standing at an almost laughable 50 per cent, Celtic always looked in control of proceedings

Salford put Celtic, who have now won five games on the spin, under plenty of pressure. They showed a lot of aggression in defence and their experienced overseas props Craig Stapleton and Phil Leuluai were both exceptional.

But it is nigh on impossible to win a game when the opposition’s finishing and one-on-one tackling is so much better than yours.

Salford’s leading try scorers Paul White and Mat Gardner both bombed tries.

They also made big defensive mistakes in nightmare individual performances but Salford’s weakest link in defence was young stand off Stefan Ratchford.

He was at fault for both of outstanding full back Tony Duggan’s two tries.

Ratchford’s half back partner Richard Myler, who was one of the few Salford players to rise to the big game occasion, and Celtic winger Luke Dyer also scored two-try braces.

But the star of the show was Celtic scrum half Jace Van Dijk. He cut Salford to ribbons with his deadly passing and pinpoint kicking skills.

He had a hand in most of Celtic’s eight tries, including the last one which saw prop Jordan James, who used to play for the Reds’ bitter rivals Swinton, rub salt into Salford’s wounds.

Salford’s players undoubtedly let the fans down on Thursday night.

But, with a gate of just 2,607 for such an important fixture, the players could argue that the fans let them down too.

Let’s hope that the damage is minimal – cue a Salford win against Whitehaven.

Team: Fitzpatrick; Gardner, Littler, Wilshere, White; Ratchford, Myler; Sidlow, Alker, Stapleton, Sibbit, Adamson, Turner. Subs used: Paul, Leuluai, Bannister, Highton. Tries: Bannister, Myler (2). Goals: Wilshere, Bannister (2). Attendance: 2,607.

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