London 11-8 Salford: Broncos beat Red Devils to stay alive in Qualifiers
Last Updated: 22/09/18 5:43pm
A fantastic kicking display from Jarrod Sammut was the difference as London Broncos held on to beat Salford 11-8 at Trailfinders Sports Ground, therefore keeping their promotion hopes alive.
The victory means the Broncos still have a chance of making the Million Pound Game with one round of Super 8s Qualifiers against Halifax left to play.
Broncos head coach Danny Ward made two changes to the side beaten by Hull KR last weekend, with Kieran Dixon and Matty Gee replacing Michael Channing and James Cunningham.
Meanwhile, Salford boss Ian Watson made sweeping changes to his side after suffering a narrow defeat to Leeds last time out. Greg Johnson, Jack Littlejohn, Greg Burke, Luke Burgess and Ryan Lannon all came into the starting line-up.
Sammut opened the scoring for London in the 11th minute, converting a penalty from 10 metres after Robert Lui had held Alex Walker too long in the tackle.
Three minutes later the Broncos scored the first try of the game, with Jay Pitts managing to ground the ball despite being held by three Salford players. Malta international Sammut added the conversion to put the Broncos 8-0 ahead.
The game was being played in driving rain and London were able to adapt to the conditions better than Salford, who were guilty of a number of knock-ons and unforced errors throughout the first half.
The Broncos were temporarily reduced to 12 players in the 25th minute when Eddie Battye was shown a yellow card for ripping the ball out of a two-man tackle. Salford were unable to capitalise on the extra man and Sammut thought he had scored the Broncos' second try only to be pulled back for offside.
The Broncos did manage to extend their lead while down to 12, with Sammut knocking over a drop goal from 20 metres five minutes from half-time.
The Red Devils finally got themselves on the scoresheet in the 56th minute, with Johnson going over in the corner after the ball had been quickly shipped out to the wing. Joey Lussick was unable to add the extras, slicing wide from a tight angle.
Sammut converted his second penalty of the game in the 75th minute, with the ball sailing between the posts from 40 metres giving the hosts a seven-point lead with five minutes to play at 11-4.
Salford used their set of six straight from the kick-off to score their second try of the match, with Johnson again going over in the corner.
This time Ed Chamberlain stepped up to try and convert from the narrow angle, but the outcome was the same as Lussick, with the ball sailing wide and although Salford gave it one last crack, the Broncos held on for the all-important win.
