Things didn’t go to plan in Perpignan as Salford suffered their 7th defeat In 11 Super League games at the hands of the Catalan Dragons.
The Dragons victory was influenced by young full back Morgan Escaré.
Escaré scored his first of three tries the first minute, with Daryl Millard adding a second try six minutes later and William Barthau converting the first.
And Escaré got the Dragons’ third try after 19 minutes, after a dash downfield, with Barthau again converting, putting his side 16-0 ahead.
But the Red Devils fight back was on the cards after after Escaré and Millard were both stunned in a collision.
Great play by Gareth Hock created a try for Francis Meli, while the other winger Danny Williams added a second on 29 minutes and Greg Eden scored just before the interval. Tim Smith converted all the Red Devils’ tries to give them a two-point interval lead.
Four minutes into the second half, the Dragons took the lead again with a try from Zeb Taia, converted again by Barthau, but the Red Devils replied quickly when Chase’s cleverly disguised pass created a superb try for Gareth Hock.
But the Dragons refused to lie down, and Leon Pryce followed up a Julian Bousquet break for another long distance try to give them a 28-24 lead after 63 minutes.
Barthau then added a penalty to stretch the Dragons’ advantage to six points, and the decisive try came after 70 minutes when Escaré added his third try of the afternoon, with Barthau’s conversion making the final score 36-24.
Elio Pelissier completed the scoring when he landed a field-goal to the jubilation of the Dragons’ supporters, who had seen their fifth consecutive home win.
Hull KR on the other hand go into this on the back of 2 straight defeats at the hands of the Widnes Vikings and Catalan Dragons.
In the last meeting between Salford and Hull KR, Salford stole the 2 points from KR in a thrilling tie in which Salford came out on top in the end. Hull KR went into the half time leading by 34-14 but the 20 point margin was soon over Turner with Salford scoring 24 un-answered points. Many fans will be hoping for the same type of game and same outcome!
My prediction Saturdays tie will be;
Salford 22 – 18 Hull KR.
