Dragons rip through Reds

Catalans Dragons made it three straight Super League wins in style a 38-6 hammering of Salford at Stade Gilbert Brutus.

Dimitri Pelo crossed twice in the first half to help the hosts establish a 14-6 lead before they went on to score 24 points without reply after the break.

Jean Phillipe-Baile helped himself to a second-half brace as the Dragons maintained their fine run of form following a slow start to the new campaign.

Salford played their part in an entertaining first half but were blown away in the second to see their three-game winning run come to a crashing halt.

High hopes

Having arrived in France off the back of a stunning upset at Leeds, Shaun McRae's side would have had high hopes of another successful away day.

The signs were good when they took the lead, Stefan Ratchford taking Jordan Turner's superb offload to canter in on the left after 11 minutes.

The winger's second Super League try of his career was converted from out wide by John Wilshere to give the Reds an early 6-0 advantage.

However, Les Catalans were in no mood to be Salford's latest scalp, battling back to lead at the break thanks mainly to a brace from Pelo.

The France international accepted Olivier Elima's pass to waltz in for his first before getting on the end of a neat grubber, again in the left corner, just before half-time.

In between Remi Casty grabbed the easiest of scores after the television match official decided Salford had stripped the ball loose from David Ferriol's grasp in a two-man tackle just as the forward reached out for the line.

The Dragons went on to dominate from then on, though they had to wait until the 55th minute to score again - Baile forcing his way over from close range.

Quick-fire double

Pelo, who had been denied a hat-trick straight after the interval by a forward pass, unselfishly passed inside for the centre, filling in for the injured Adam Mogg, to complete his three-minute double that put the result beyond doubt.

Skipper Greg Bird took over kicking duties to convert the second with Thomas Bosc having to be helped off the field following a late hit that was placed on report by referee Ben Thaler.

Having come under intense pressure and with the sun sapping their strength, Salford wilted in the closing stages, conceding three more tries.

The pick of the lot came from Jerome Guisset, who bumped off an attempted shoulder charge from Craig Stapleton before going on a rampaging run that resulted in him just getting the ball down in time.

After Kane Bentley crossed it was left to Steve Bell to round out the scoring, the centre catching a tired Reds defence short of numbers out on the right.