Salford secured a 64-4 home victory against the North Wales Crusaders.
Dave Hewitt’s side bounced back with a dominant performance after last weekend’s last-minute defeat to Barrow Raiders.
Salford’s young attacking talent shone on the field before children from the Salford Foundation ran match-day operations as part of a unique Foundation Takeover Day.
Salford climbed up to 11th in the Championship after a bolstered crowd featuring 1,000 Salford RLFC community members watched on at the CorpAcq Stadium.
Toby Hughes opened the scoring after 12 minutes when he managed to evade defenders with his trademark right-foot step before he cut inside the Crusaders defence and score.
Salford scored a second try five minutes later when Callum Green was the recipient of a bullet pass by Owain Abel which allowed him to touch-down on the right edge.
After sustaining great field position close to the Crusaders try-line, Lewis Pilling scored Salford’s third try of the game after plugging a hole in the opposition defence.
In the 25th minute, Salford were in control of the match and added a fourth try when Toby Hughes ran the ball for his second try of the afternoon.
The English halfback confirmed his sixth try in just two games against North Wales Crusaders after he inspired a huge 86-0 win away in Colwyn Bay earlier this season.Jake Spedding scored his first Salford try in just his third appearance after he found himself one-on-one with a defender from a scrum before scoring under the posts to extend our advantage to 30-0.
Despite suffering an early setback, the Crusaders managed to get on the scoreboard when Lewis Holgate scored a try in the 34th minute.
In the 38th minute, Cole Oakley provided an instant response as he powered over the try-line to score in front of an ecstatic South Stand to give Salford a 36-4 lead at half-time.
Salford continued their dominance into the second half when Owain Abel continued his exceptional try-scoring form by scoring his third try in three games.
Just minutes later, Jake Spedding went over the try-line for his second of the match after he completed a clinical move on the right-hand side.
Having entered head injury assessment protocol, Salford’s captain Brad Dwyer was ruled out of the fixture, but his replacement Joe Baldwin made a sparkling impact throughout the game and was next in line to cross the try-line in the 51st minute.
17-year-old Riley Johnson, who came through Salford’s pathway programme, made his first-team debut and impressed late in the game after creating several attacking chances.
Salford’s physical presence proved to be too much for the struggling Crusaders, who sit 20th in the Championship, as interchange player Owen Haldenby scored two late tries before Lewis Pilling’s second try capped an impressive Salford performance.
Aydin Gorgun
