Gibson Extends Willows Deal

Salford City Reds have moved to secure the services of former Leeds Rhinos three-quarter Ashley Gibson for the next two seasons after an impressive first season at The Willows.The England speedster will now join Adam Sidlow and Daniel Holdsworth in signing mew contracts as the Reds begin to gear up for their final season at their famous old stadium with more names to come.

Irlam boy Adam Neal has also extended his stay by signing a contract until the end of next season after joining the Reds on loan from Warrington Wolves last month.

Meanwhile the Reds remain heavily linked with Canterbury Bulldogs stars Andrew Ryan and Luke Patten.

Reds Ace Sidlow Can’t Wait For New Stadium

The new community stadium at Barton will be the catalyst to success for Salford City Reds.

That’s the firm belief of young pack star Adam Sidlow who recently agreed a new three-year contract with Shaun McRae’s men.

The 22-year-old Wiganer followed Aussie star Daniel Holdsworth in signing up for the Reds and Sidlow has revealed more players are ready to put pen to paper.

“I think with the new stadium now underway things are going to go well here and I’m looking forward to the next three years,” said Sidlow.

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Plucky Reds Serve Up Another Saints Thriller

Salford City Reds were involved in a thriller with St Helens for the second time this season after last month’s high-scoring victory at The Willows. This time, the Saints out-gunned the Reds for revenge, but not before Shaun McRae’s men had provided more thana few scares along the way and racked up 34 points against the Super League contenders.

Match Report (courtesy of PA)

Paul Wellens notched four tries as St Helens eased to victory against engage Super League opponents Salford to record their 11th win in their last 13 matches.

But despite the result, lowly Reds turned in a plucky show scoring six touchdowns.

Leon Pryce, with two tries, was in dominant form, while Jonny Lomax booted nine goals from 10 attempts.

Third-placed Saints, cock-a-hoop after their 26-24 derby win at Wigan a week ago, welcomed back Ade Gardner following a four match absence with a rib injury.

But Francis Meli, who had scored five tries in the last three games, was missing with Achilles tendon trouble alongside Sol Soliola, Kyle Eastmond, Maurie Fa’asavalu and Jon Wilkin.

The Reds pulled off a surprise victory at the Willows in May and were this time boosted by the return of Mark Henry and Stefan Ratchford after Sunday’s home defeat by Castleford.

But Salford had their injury problems with Willie Talau, the ex Saints centre, Ray Cashmere and Luke Adamson sidelined.

The Reds were on the backfoot from the start with Keiron Cunningham sending James Roby racing clear.

Saints went ahead after six minutes with Scott Moore’s flick allowing Paul Wellens to send Gardner over in the corner.

But Salford stunned Saints by scoring with their first attack after a clever slipped pass by Phil Leuluai enabled Ryan Boyle to go over near the posts and Daniel Holdsworth tagged on the conversion.

Skipper Malcolm Alker, being released by the Reds at the end of the season, was prominent in the build-up.

Alker was again involved for the second try with Holdsworth supplying the pass for sub Adam Sidlow to stretch the lead to 10-4 midway through the first half.

Saints levelled with Tony Puletua’s strength brushing off several defenders with Jonny Lomax’s conversion making it 10-10.

Salford’s defence was undone by slick handling from Scott Moore and Chris Flannery for Paul Wellens to race over with Lomax again on target.

Saints stretched the advantage to 22-10 after an electrifying burst from Pryce.

It was Pryce’s skill which sent Wellens away for Saints’ fourth try in nine minutes.

But Salford refused to concede defeat with Matty Smith engineering Sidlow’s second try to cut the interval deficit to 28-16.

Flannery’s converted try early in the second half gave Saints more breathing space but Mark Henry found a way through for Salford’s fourth touchdown.

Wellens completed his hat-trick in the 57th minute before Ashley Gibson replied.

Wellens added a fourth with others from Matty Ashurst and Pryce.

But Salford kept plugging away with Daniel Holdsworth adding their sixth try to give Saints boss Mick Potter some cause for concern despite his side’s half-century tally.

Match Facts

St Helens (28) 58
Tries: Gardner, Puletua, Wellens 4, Pryce 2, Flannery, Ashurst Goals: Lomax 9
Salford (16) 34
Tries: Boyle, Sidlow 2, Henry, Gibson, Holdsworth Goals: Holdsworth 5

St Helens: Wellens, Lomax, Gidley, Dean, Gardner, Pryce, Moore, Hargreaves, Cunningham, Puletua, Clough, Flannery, Roby.
Replacements: Fozzard, Graham, Ashurst, Dixon.

Salford: Fitzpatrick, Broughton, Henry, Gibson, Tyrer, M Smith, Holdsworth, Boyle, Alker, Leuluai, Sibbit, Littler, Swain.
Replacements: Ratchford, J Smith, Parker, Sidlow.

Referee: I Smith (Oldham).

Attendance: 7,728.

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Red Hot Ray On Hand For Calor Opening

Salford City Reds Australian pack ace Ray Cashmere was on hand to cut the ribbon and flip a few burgers in the process when he was invited to officially open the new offices of the Manchester Calor Centre on Salford Quays.

The Reds’ forward is no stranger to cooking on Calor with ‘barbies’ a way of life ‘down under’ in his native  Australia:

“I am really honoured to be invited along to open the refurbishments at Manchester Calor Centre, especially as it is on the doorstep of our home ground The Willows,” said Ray.

“We have had some really good barbecue weather recently and I really enjoy cooking in the open air.”

Manchester Calor Centre on Daniel Adamson Way are new business partners to Salford City Reds and held two exclusive open days with stockists and local residents invited along to visit the new offices with product discounts and the chance to win a Swiss Grill barbecue and gas cylinder worth over £350.

The highlight of the launch was an all day barbecue with Calor Chef Derek Morris offering visitors some of the finest barbecued food available with plenty of drinks to wash it down.

Jim White, Manchester Calor Gas Centre Manager said:

“Calor would like to thank Salford City Reds and especially Ray Cashmere for their participation in the celebrations,

“Ray really enjoyed himself and is a credit to the club and the sport of rugby league. We had two fantastic days and I would personally like to thank all the staff and visitors who made it run so smoothly.”

Reds Comeback Just Falls Short

Salford City Reds staged a remarkable comeback to almost snatch the points from Castleford Tigers after Aussie star and again Man of the Match Daniel Holdsworth almost orchestrated an unlikely victory, aided by side-kicks Stuart Littler, Luke Swain and Jeremy Smith. However, after the Reds had set about clawing back a 16 point half-time deficit, it was the Tigers who had the last laugh as they snatched the decisive score in a thrilling game, just eight minutes from the end.

Match Report

Coach Terry Matterson believes Castleford are primed for a play-off push after claiming a thrilling 28-22 win at Salford.

Cas led 22-6 at the break after a first-half hat-trick by Dean Widders, while Craig Huby also touched down for the visitors.

Salford battled back through tries by Stuart Littler, Jodie Broughton and Ian Sibbit to make it 22-22 with 20 minutes left.

But Brett Ferres’ 74th-minute try ensured the Tigers backed up Tuesday’s 24-20 win over Catalan Dragons and moved within three points of the top eight.

“We highlighted that this was a really important week in our season,” said Matterson.

“If we didn’t get the results we wanted then it’d make the last nine games fairly tough and we’ve worked really hard.

“The wins haven’t been easy, they were both by small margins, but we have lost games from those positions at other times so we’re really pleased.

“I was happy with the mixture between playing open rugby and our composure – we haven’t seen a lot of that from us this year.”

Cas raced into a 16-0 lead inside 16 minutes, with Widders claiming two tries in the opening five minutes before Huby crashed over.

Salford finally got going with Karl Fitzpatrick pulling a try back but versatile Australian Widders, currently playing at stand-off,

then capped a fine first-half performance by completing his first Super League hat-trick.

“It was almost faultless,” added Matterson. “We completed over 90% of our sets, played some good rugby and probably should have been further ahead.

“That nearly came back to bite us. Fatigue began to set in after playing in the week, gave some penalties away and just couldn’t get hold of the ball.

“But credit to Salford, they played some really good rugby and nearly nicked it off us.”

Salford started the second half strongly with two tries within six minutes of the restart.

The Reds levelled after Daniel Holdsworth sparked the move for Sibbit’s try and their star scrum-half converted to level things up but Ferres burst through from Rangi Chase’s pass to seal victory.

“We gave Castleford an opportunity in the first quarter of an hour, we were just leaking points,” said Salford coach Shaun McRae.

“We lacked impact in the tackle and our line speed was poor, and from that moment on it’s always hard to get back into the game.

“We got it back to 16-6 and then straight away we let them score again, but our second-half performance was terrific.

“When we got it back to 22-22, we’re feeling we can win the game, but there was a bad defensive read for their try.

“You can put that down to the heat, fatigue, the fact we had to work overtime defensively in the first half – and that ultimately cost us the match.”

Match Facts

Salford (6) 22
Tries: Fitzpatrick, Littler, Broughton, sibbit Goals: Holdsworth

Castleford (22) 28
Tries: Widders 3, Huby, Ferres Goals: Westerman

---

Salford: Fitzpatrick, Broughton, Talau, Gibson, Tyrer, M Smith, Holdsworth, Boyle, Alker, Sidlow, Sibbit, Littler, Swain.
Replacements: J Smith, Parker, Adamson, Leuluai.

Castleford: McGoldrick, Dixon, Arundel, Ferres, Wainwright, Widders, Chase, Higgins, Hudson, Jackson, Huby, Snitch, Westerman.
Replacements: Sargent, Jones, Thompson, Wood.

Referee: Steve Ganson (St Helens).

Health Is A Man’s Game, Says NHS Salford

Reds’ Sunday match against the Tigers celebrates national Men’s Health Week. NHS Salford and Salford City Reds are reminding local men of the importance of keeping in good health.

Health Improvement Teams, Macmillan Cancer Information and Support and other health professionals will be at the Reds’ game against Castleford Tigers to tackle the issue of men’s health. Sunday will mark the end of national Men’s Health Week, which started on Monday.

Figures show that in the UK, men are 20% less likely to go and see their GP and other health professionals. In Salford more men smoke – over 30% in many parts of the city, compared to 21% nationally and further to this 66% of Salford men are overweight, compared to 45% nationally.

Salford City Reds’ captain Malcolm Alker said: “As rugby players it’s vital to stay fit but as individuals we are all responsible for our own wellbeing and need to take steps to ensure we remain healthy. It could be as simple as incorporating more exercise into our lifestyle or changing our diet but these small steps can lead to big changes.”

NHS Salford’s Associate Director of Health Improvement Janice Lowndes said: “We know that some men can take a laid back attitude towards their health and when they have a health concern niggling them they don’t want to bother their doctor. We want to remind them that health is a man’s game and it’s important they know how they can improve their health and what they should do if they do have health problems.”

NHS Salford staff and colleagues will be at the game giving out a range of information and advice on stopping smoking, drinking safe levels of alcohol, eating healthier and increasing physical activity levels. Dermatological nurses will share tips on preventing skin cancer and free sun cream. Supporters also have the chance to win Salford Community Leisure gym passes and signed Reds shirts and balls.

Reds Launch Countdown To End of The Willows

With just 18 games and 18 months to go before The Willows is consigned to history the Reds have today debuted the first of an on-going campaign to mark what will be the defining moment in the club’s recent (and indeed not so recent history) – the long goodbye to our home of more than a century.

Featuring stunning, iconic photography designed to capture the heart and soul of our grand old stadium, the ‘Rediscover the Reds’ campaign will see every remaining Super League game played at The Willows have its own unique image, each one representing a different aspect of Willows life, both on and off the field.

The first image is a striking homage to the legendary dressing rooms at The Willows – one part of the ground that will never be forgotten by anyone who has ever played here, that’s for sure!

As well as being used to advertise the remaining fixtures and draw attention to the fact that the number of chances to experience this unique stadium are diminishing fast, the images will also help to ensure that The Willows is gone but never forgotten – even the parts fans don’t usually see.

Over the years there have been many fans, as there are at any sports club, who once attended games but no longer do – the Rediscover the Reds campaign is designed capture the imaginations of many of those people; people who have great memories of The Willows from some point in their lives and the club hope these are the people who will want to take the opportunity to revisit their past and reconnect with both the Willows and the Salford Rugby Club – rediscovering the Reds in the process.

Continuing with the significance of the number 18 we would like to give Reds supporters the chance to get involved – you are, after all, the 18th man (and woman) on a match day – by being immortalised forever on one of the posters. If you would like to take part simply email marketing@reds.co.uk expressing your interest and we will do the rest. We are looking for people of all ages, both genders and all shapes and sizes to take part, so don’t be shy!

Reds’ Communications Manager Paul McNally said:“We are painfully aware of the heavy burden the closing of stadium places on us – it is a venue that has touched hundreds of thousands of lives over several generations, and we are honoured to be the ones who get to mark its demise with the respect and care The Willows deserve. This campaign, produced entirely in-house, is just a small part of what we have planned, but an important one – it will create a record not just of the final games ever played here, but also of what life was like for the staff, players and supporters in what was a home from home for many.”

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Hull Challenge To Strong For Reds

Salford City Reds could not reproduce last season’s heroics at the KC Stadium as they were well beaten 34-12 on the night by in-form Hull FC. Two quick-fire tries from Karl Fitzpatrick and Adam Sidlow gave the fans brief hope but ultimately the Reds’ inability to chalk up any further points cost them dear.

Match Report

In-form Hull continued their unassuming pursuit of the Engage Super League leaders as they registered a fourth successive win against Salford.

Richard Agar’s men have rarely been mentioned as genuine contenders to make a serious challenge to Wigan and Warrington, but this win, which leaves them six points adrift of the summit in fourth place, gives them a solid base going into the last 10 games of the season.

Although their performance failed to reach the heights of the one that saw them beat St Helens a week ago, Hull were competent and efficient enough to see off a Salford side who rarely threatened apart from a brief four-minute period midway through the first-half during which they scored both of their tries.

Shaun McRae’s side were otherwise toothless in attack and their failure to stifle Hull’s creative players, in particular Jordan Tansey who scored a crucial try at the start of the second half, ultimately cost them dear.

Hull made an enterprising start and could have gone ahead early on had Tansey taken in Sean Long’s pass, but Salford withstood their initial barrage and were given a boost when Danny Houghton was sin-binned for holding down Stuart Littler.

The visitors did little to test Hull during the hooker’s absence, though, and their lacklustre efforts were typified as Tansey escaped his own in-goal area despite the attentions of four would-be tacklers.

As it was, Hull took the lead just before Houghton’s return, with Craig Hall collecting Tansey’s pass for a first try in two months, before captain Sean Long got on the end of some good work from Hall and Houghton to go in as the clocked passed 20 minutes.

Salford quickly discovered some attacking prowess and were level within six minutes.

Karl Fitzpatrick was the first to score, going in after Mark Henry’s break had sent Jeremy Smith clear, before forward Adam Sidlow belied his size by racing 50 metres to score after an offload from Phil Leuluai.

Their shaky edge defence was to cost them again before the break, though, with Richard Whiting squeezing in at the corner after some good handling from ex-Salford man Jordan Turner.

The half-time break seemed to subdue both sides and the start of the second-half was a drab affair until a moment of brilliance from Tansey sparked the game back to life.

The full-back collected the ball from the base of a scrum 30 metres out and, although some of Salford’s attempts at tackling him were questionable, the ex-Sydney man showed admirable footwork and speed as he found a way to the try line.

Hull were rarely troubled in defence and as the game reached the hour-mark, Turner’s show-and-go run to the line ended any faint hopes the Lancashire side may have had of making a comeback.

Hall’s second try and his eighth of the season finished things off with two minutes remaining, although Tickle was unable to maintain his perfect record with the boot.

Match Facts

Hull (18) 34 Salford (12) 12
Tries: Long, Turner, Hall 2, Tansey, Whiting Sidlow, Fitzpatrick
Goals: Tickle 5 M Smith 2
Attend: 11,397

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