Batley 14-42 Salford: Red Devils through to Million Pound Game
Last Updated: 25/09/16 5:46pm
Salford and Hull KR will battle it out in the Million Pound Game after the Red Devils beat Batley 42-14 on Sunday.
Gareth O'Brien grabbed 18 points as Salford kept alive their Super League survival hopes with victory in the last match of the Super 8s Qualifiers.
The Red Devils had put themselves in deep trouble with their shock 19-16 home defeat by London Broncos last week, but went some way to redemption with a comfortable victory that secured their place in the Million Pound Match, one place ahead of the Broncos on points difference.
Salford now need to beat Hull KR in Saturday's one-off decider at the Lightstream Stadium, which is being shown on Sky Sports 2, to avoid relegation to the Kingstone Press Championship.
Their victory signalled the end of Salford director of rugby Tim Sheens' connection with the club as he prepares to take over as head coach of Hull KR, having announced that he would take no part in the Million Pound Match if it was between his current and future employers.
Sunday's match also marked the farewell of popular Batley coach John Kear and skipper Keegan Hirst, who will be reunited in Super League with Wakefield in 2017.
The Bulldogs were unable to give the departing duo a fairytale win but least they can claim victory in the second half after the visitors had established an unassailable 34-4 lead after making good use of the notorious slope at Mount Pleasant.
It was inevitably a tense opening but once O'Brien took a pass from his half-back partner Michael Dobson to cross for the game's first try on 11 minutes, Salford were able to relax.
The Red Devils were particularly threatening on their left edge, where Josh Griffin got his three-quarter partner Junior Sa'u over for their second try three minutes later.
Batley winger Wayne Reittie finished off a neat handling move for the 100th try of his career midway through the first half but it was only a minor irritation for the visitors, who generally had little difficulty coping with the limited Batley attack.
Dobson worked second rower Weller Hauraki over for two tries before half-time, winger Greg Johnson finished off a break from Ben Murdoch-Masilla and Griffin also touched down as the Red Devils extended their lead to 34-4.
They found it tougher going uphill after the break, though, and Batley scored the first points of the second half when Reittie collected Pat Walker's kick to the corner for his second try.
Loose forward Luke Blake and prop Alex Rowe were also held up over the line as the Bulldogs produced a spirited response without threatening to haul themselves back into contention.
Hooker Logan Tomkins sent stand-off Robert Lui 40 metres up the field for Salford's seventh try, and though Batley pulled another try back when centre Chris Ulugia pounced on Cain Southernwood's grubber kick, O'Brien had the final say when he dummied his way over for his second try four minutes from the end.
