Salford City Reds 24-30 Wakefield Wildcats (eSL R23)

Salford City Reds almost turned things into a grandstand finish as they narrowly lost to a Wakefield side flying high in a playoff-spot. In truth, it was perhaps not as close as the final scoreline suggested but the Reds at least showed heart against a team brilliantly marshalled by Danny Brough and Brad Drew.

Match Report

Wakefield returned to winning ways as they ran out 30-24 winners in their engage Super League clash with Salford at The Willows.

Both sides were looking to bounce back from defeats in their previous outings but it was the latter who came out on top courtesy of some clinical finishing at crucial times.

Five tries from Oliver Wilkes, Sean Gleeson, Michael Korkidas, Scott Grix and Dale Ferguson, plus five goals from the boot of Danny Brough, proved enough to see the West Yorkshire club to victory.

Two-try efforts from Dean McGilvray and Phil Leuluai were in vain though as Wakefield survived a late rally with ease.

Wakefield opened the scoring in the eighth minute. First scrum-half Brough and then winger Gleeson attempted to angle a grubber kick through and it was the latter’s which found its way into the hands of Wilkes who showed a good turn of pace to touch down.

The Wildcats helped themselves to their second of the evening two minutes later as Ferguson spotted a gap in the Salford defence and motored his way straight through it. Salford full-back Wilshere closed him down but Ferguson played a simple pass to his right and Gleeson crossed the whitewash.

Brough again added the extras as Wakefield took a 12-point lead.

Robbie Paul came off the bench and put himself about and a score for Salford finally came in the 32nd minute.

The ball was worked from left to right and just as it seemed as though winger McGilvray had been halted in his tracks he somehow forced his way over the line and touched down.

Wilshere hit a difficult conversion from the right touchline and then slotted a penalty between the sticks two minutes before the break to cut the gap to just four points.

But no sooner had Wakefield got the ball back than they swept downfield and former Salford player Korkidas bulldozed his way over just to the right of the posts.

Salford conceded again in the 44th minute when the Wildcats decided to keep the ball alive on the last tackle and spin it wide.

Winger Grix took the ball at speed and managed to squeeze his way over in the corner despite the best efforts of a couple of Reds defenders. Brough, presented with a difficult conversion attempt from the touchline, sent it well wide.

Just five minutes later Wakefield’s lead grew to 20 points when Ferguson forced his way over the line following yet another prolonged period of possession in the Reds’ half. This time Brough was on target in adding the extras.

McGilvray gave the hosts hope in the 54th minute when he did well to stretch for the line before the Wakefield defence could get across, but a penalty from Brough left the score at 30-12.

Salford did try to muster some sort of response and got to within a few metres of the Wakefield try-line on a couple of occasions but just lacked a cutting edge.

Salford added two further converted tries through replacement Leuluai, who bulldozed his way over for the first and then took a Wilshere chip-kick on his way to the line for his second.

But despite the late rally which saw Wilshere convert both tries, the game had already been won.

Match Facts

Salford (8) 24 Tries: McGilvray 2, Leuluai 2 Goals: Wilshere 4 Wakefield (18) 30 Tries: Wilkes, Gleeson, Korkidas, Grix, Ferguson Goals: Brough 5 Salford: Wilshere, Henry, Littler, Ratchford, McGilvray, Smith, Myler, Cashmere, Alker, Stapleton, Adamson, Sidlow, Swain. Replacements: Leuluai, Sibbit, Paul, Nash. Wakefield: Blaymire, Gleeson, Demetriou, Atkins, Grix, Obst, Brough, Bibey, Drew, Korkidas, Snitch, Wilkes, Ferguson. Replacements: Henderson, Leo-Latu, Moore, Morton. Referee: J Child (RFL)

City Reds	Match Stats	Wildcats
4	Tries	5
4	Goals	5
	Drop Goals
311	Tackles	254
14	Misses	15
96%	% Tackle Made	94%
20	Kicks	19
6	Retained Kicks	5
	40/20′s
36	Number of sets	42
113	Number PTB	123
2	Quick PTB	2
168	Carries	175
1100	Metres	1182
1	Breaks	2
8	Offloads	5
12	Errors	9
12	Pens Con	9

Ratchford Remains A Red As Facebook Hoax Quashed

Salford City Reds would like to confirm that Stefan Ratchford remains contracted to the club until 2011 and is going nowhere. Rumours had quickly circulated the internet after a number of posts from teammates had appeared on the player’s Facebook site, suggesting he was moving to Wakefield Wildcats next season.

Reds Communication Manager Paul McNally said: “It’s a bit of a prank between the lads that’s gone too far and some of the players will be reminded of their responsibility to the Club. The boys wanted to see how fast a rumour could spread and I think they got their answer quicker than they expected.

It seems to have been another case where the fingers weren’t necessarily connected to the brain in this instance.

“Facebook and common sense aren’t always words that go together in the same sentence as the Australian cricket team and Tottenham Hotspur have seen in the last day or so. It seems to have been another case where the fingers weren’t necessarily connected to the brain in this instance.

McNally added, “Stefan is a huge favourite of the fans and they are passionate about keeping him here at The Willows. I think some were hurt that his “move” to a Super League rival was being played out in the public domain, but it is important to reiterate that anything official would always appear on reds.co.uk, not hiding away elsewhere on the internet.

“It serves to remind all clubs in all sports of the potential hazards of social network sites, be it Super League clubs, Premier League teams or the Australian national side.”

Join Our Summer Camp Fun

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Alker: “We Must Build On Great Victories”

Reds’ Captain Malcolm Alker wants to see his side build on some of the fantastic victories they have had this season against the likes of Leeds Rhinos and St Helens, and believes they need to put in the same level of concentration against teams outside the big few in order to keep the supporters noisy and being the extra man they need.

“If anything we have perhaps let our concentration slip in a few recent games and we have to be able to build a momentum and keep it going. We were quick out of the block against Celtic and had a good lead last weekend against Warrington but then, for a variety of reasons those leads slipped away. We have a plan to put in action this week in case it starts happening again, but this year has very much been a building process for the whole club, on and off the field, but we won’t be looking for a repeat of last week because we know that is not acceptable.” he said.

“It’s our job to get on top of teams and naturally that means the supporters will be louder and behind us more and that builds confidence further. It’s a circle. I personally used to love it during the season when we finished 5th in 2006 and they used to roar us in for every tackle. I used to find that a massive benefit to us and it’s important they are supporting us when we are behind as well. This is a tough game and teams at this level are very difficult to stop when they get a roll on,” he added.

To see the full interview with Malcolm Alker on RedPlanetTV, click the video link below.

httpvh://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_pju3LupjAw

Reds Look To Make Amends Against Wildcats

The City Reds are looking to put last week’s disastrous performance behind them and come out with all guns blazing against Wakefield Wildcats at The Willows this Friday.

After a second half performance that Head Coach Shaun McRae said was the worst in his 401 game coaching career the players must now look closely to see how they can change their fortunes for the remainder of the season.

Kiwi Half-Back Jeremy Smith is keen to put it behind him and said: “We have to be a lot stronger defensively. Even though we were winning at half-time we could probably count ourselves a bit lucky. They had bombed a couple of opportunities and we had taken some good oneS.

“We know we have to control the game better and build our own game because like we did against St Helens it won’t just happen to us.

“I know I’ve taken some flak from a section of the fans but to be honest it’s not been too bad to be fair, they call it as they see it and I was filthy with myself for one or two errors against Warrington and I have to put that right.

Meanwhile Luke Swain said: “I rate Wakefield almost as highly as Warrington, they are a pretty good team. Everything has already been said about last week and I have never been through a game like that. The second half was relentless. It was a very unpleasant experience.

Head Coach Shaun McRae has added local teenager Lewis Palfrey to the 19-man squad for the first time this season. Lewis is highly rated and grew up with a view of The Stadium from his house.

Jordan Turner has joined the list of injured three-quarters and is likely to miss several weeks with a troublesome back injury.

John Wilshere meanwhile needs just six points to break the 700 barrier for the Reds.

Reds 19 Man Squad to face Wakefield Wildcats:
Wilshere, Henry, Smith, Palfrey, McGilvray, Cashmere, Alker, Stapleton, Swain, Littler, Leuluai, Paul, Ratchford, Adamson, Nash, Fitzpatrick, Sidlow, Sibbit, Myler

Sibbit Cleared Of High Tackle Charge

Salford City Reds forward Ian Sibbit was found not guilty of a charge of making a high tackle on Warrington Wolves winger Brian Carney at the Halliwell Jones last Sunday.

Sibbit’s challenge had been placed on report by referee Ben Thaler but the RFL ruled the second-row forward was clear to play against Wakefield on Friday (8pm)

UK to host 2013 World Cup

The Rugby League International Federation announced today that the next Rugby League World Cup will be held in the United Kingdom in 2013.

The decision was one of many major issues discussed by the International Federation at a two day meeting scheduled to determine the future of the International calendar and to discuss the allocation of funding to develop the International game.

The 2008 Rugby League World Cup, run by the Rugby League International Federation, was an outstanding success by any measure, attracting more than 290,000 fans, 6791 tickets sold through official travel agents and attracting a global television audience of 19.2m people. Importantly the event was a commercial success, raising revenue that will be reinvested by the International Federation to strengthen development and grow participation at all levels.

Event research showed that 85% of respondents watched the Rugby League World Cup on television with 98% of respondents who watched enjoying the matches. 88% of fans identified as passionate supporters believed the Rugby League World Cup was a great competition.

The decision to play the next World Cup in the northern hemisphere was based on a comprehensive business plan, submitted by the Rugby Football League (RFL), detailing plans to host the tournament in the United Kingdom, as part of the UK’s ‘Golden Decade of Sport’. The decision to play the tournament in 2013 as opposed to 2012 was made to ensure the tournament is played outside an Olympic year in the future.

Deputy Chairman of the International Federation & RFL Chairman, Richard Lewis said, ‘It is a great boost for Rugby League in the Northern Hemisphere to secure the World Cup in 2013. I thought that the 2008 tournament was an outstanding success and our goal is to deliver a successful and profitable tournament that further enhances the International prestige of Rugby League.’

Developing more elite International Test matches and growing Rugby League in nations who could deliver World Cup teams into the future was agreed as the basis for future funding grants in order to ensure continued growth for the RLIF’s premier event.

Chairman of the RLIF, Colin Love, said ‘The RLIF is determined to build a stronger International calendar of matches and the recent announcement of the Pacific Cup is a perfect example of this.

The Pacific Cup will see the Pacific nations; Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Cook Island and Papua New Guinea compete in a two week tournament in Port Moresby in October – November with the winner given the chance to play in the 2010 Four Nations in Australia and New Zealand. It is an exciting and credible concept that will deliver entertaining Rugby League for fans at the ground and on television.’

The on-going development of the European Nations Cup and the need to ensure consistent matches for France, Wales, Scotland & Ireland was also discussed.

When these events are combined with the Four Nations event being held in 2009, 2010 and 2011 it is clear that there is a strong calendar of International Rugby League that will build excitement for the 2013 World Cup.

The RLIF considered the issue of player workload and it was agreed that in every four year cycle, there will be no Four Nations staged in the year prior to a Rugby League World Cup. In these years, a Test match schedule among nations will be developed.

The calendar will see Four Nations played in England in 2009, Australia and New Zealand in 2010, England in 2011 and then in Australia post the 2013 World Cup.

Elite competitions will be complimented with a range of funding grants that were agreed to fund a wide range of projects including grassroots development, elite youth academies, support for administrative staff, coaching accreditation and training courses.

‘The RLIF provides funding to more than 30 Rugby League nations and I am excited about the potential for funds raised by last year’s tournament to be carefully allocated to achieve genuine growth in Rugby League participation at all levels from elite to grassroots globally’, Love said.

Other issues discussed included player eligibility, international judiciary, maximising international commercial rights (broadcast & sponsorship) and the development of a long term strategic plan for International Rugby League.

Thornley Departs The Willows

Salford City Reds can confirm that on-loan youngster Andrew Thornley has left the club and joined Whitehaven on loan. Thornley signed for the Reds on a season-long loan form Wigan Warriors but has seen his first-team opportunities limited to just one appearance, albeit a try-scoring one against St Helens.

Director of Football Steve Simms said: “Andrew wanted to play more first team and we understand that. He’s actually Wigan’s player so they had to do the deal to take him to Cumbria amd we wish him well in his future career.”

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