Salford were defeated 52-8 on the road against the Widnes Vikings in the Betfred Championship.
Despite tries from Cole Oakley and Jack Holmes, Salford suffered their first defeat at the DCBL Stadium since March 2018.
Nine-try Widnes advanced to fourth in the Championship with help from a player-of-the-match display by Jack Billington.
For Dave Hewitt’s Salford side, they remained 12th in the Championship with just three fixtures remaining this season.
Widnes broke the deadlock in the eighth minute of the game when Dan Murray powered over the try line from close range following early mounting pressure on Salford’s try line.
Salford responded in the 16th minute with a slick combination of passes right before Toby Hughes’ inch-perfect grubber kick found the oncoming Cole Oakley who touched down for Salford’s first try.
The Vikings extended their lead to 10-4 when they exploited Salford’s stretched edge defence, with Jack Owens and Kieran Taylor combining before Mike Butt scored untouched in the corner.
Salford made a great effort to claw back in the game in the first half, with the forward pack laying the platform to earn enhanced field position and possession mid-way through the half.
Salford’s second try of the game shortly followed after repeated sets near the Vikings try line, with Jack Holmes finishing off an electric passing sequence to bring the deficit to just four points.
Though Salford were in the arm-wrestle and made life difficult for the opposition at times, Frank Sergent found the try line just eight minutes before the interval, killing all the Salford momentum to give Widnes a 16-8 half-time lead.
At the start of the second half, both teams made untidy handling errors giving each other possession early on.
The home side were quicker to gather themselves and Matty Fozard appeared the most switched on when he made a quick dart to the try line from dummy half before touching down in a devastating blow for Salford.
By this point the game was slowly getting away from Salford, as Matty Fozard’s dishevelled kick from close range was latched on to by Jack Billington who scored under the posts to extend the host’s lead to 28-8.
It was a difficult last twenty minutes for Salford, who faced the consequences of fatigue and an injury-hit squad late in the season.
Widnes were only gaining momentum and energy in the game before Frank Sergent and Kieran Taylor ensured victory for the Vikings with two tries in five minutes which brought the score to 40-8 with just 12 minutes to play.
Former Salford player and academy-graduate Nathan Connell scored a try before Jack Owens consolidated the 52-8 victory for Allan Coleman’s side.
Despite a difficult evening for Salford in Cheshire, they will now have a week off, before a crucial derby-day clash against Swinton Lions in a fortnight.
By Aydin Gorgun
