Ian Watson: We should have been better

Salford coach Ian Watson admitted his side threw away the match after making the perfect start against Castleford.

The Red Devils took an 18-0 lead against the Tigers after 11 minutes thanks to tries from Kevin Brown, Niall Evalds and Joey Lussick.

But Castleford found a purple patch and hooker Paul McShane scored twice in two minutes as they went 24-18 in front but they needed a late try from substitute Grant Millington to finally see off Salford with a 37-30 scoreline.

Watson said: “A massive momentum shift in the first half cost us the game.

“We should have been better than that. We started to do things that weren’t us and gave them a bit of a sniff.

“Defensively we needed to be a whole lot better. We stayed with our systems and stayed in the game but we probably chased the scoreboard when we didn’t need to.”

Castleford-bound full-back Evalds provided a glimpse of the excitement that Tigers fans can expect to witness in 2021 when he sliced through for a solo try but he failed to finish the game.

Watson added: “Niall doesn’t look good. Hopefully it’s not too bad. He tweaked his calf and it was painful enough for him to come off.”

Salford have a bye next week following Toronto’s withdrawal from Super League but remain on stand-by in the event of another fixture re-shuffle.

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