Pre-season friendlies round-up
Salford City Reds 52-12 Swinton Lions
Salford put their off field troubles behind them as they thumped Swinton at the Salford City Stadium on Sunday.
Martin Gleeson appeared as a trialist for the Reds but Jodie Broughton stole the headlines with a sublime hat-trick in an eight-try victory.
French wonder kid Theo Fages opened the scoring for Salford after just two minutes and despite constant interchanges from both sides, the scoring was free-flowing.
Ashley Gibson, Matty Ashurst Ryan Boyle and Wayne Godwin all crossed for Phil Vievers men, although Andy Ballard hinted at a brief Swinton fight back with an early second half score.
It wasn’t to be for the Lions though, Warrington Wolves loanee Brad Dwyer crossed for their second and final try in the closing stages of a comprehensive Salford victory.
Leigh Centurions 30-6 Wigan Warriors
A young Wigan side were comfortably defeated by Leigh in their first pre- season friendly of 2013.
Despite fielding several players with Super League experience, the Warriors succumbed to Leigh’s superior strength and class in what turned out to be a deserved six-try victory for the Centurions.
Almost 3000 fans saw Matt Gardner run in the home side’s first try after six minutes before Sam Hopkins, Gardner and Steve Maden all crossed to send Leigh in at half-time 20 points to the good.
Sean Penkywicz and Ryan Brierley scored Leigh’s second half tries and although Jamie Doran grabbed a late consolation for Wigan, the result was never in any doubt.
Gateshead Thunder 8-22 Hull KR
Hull KR kicked their pre-season campaign off with a victory against Championship 1 side Gateshead.
A relatively inexperienced Rovers side took the lead through George Griffin who collected a deft kick from Rhys Lovegrove before crashing over.
It could have been very different for the Robins though, Nick Robson and Jason Blades both scored tries for Gateshead, who just once in the whole of last season, before the break to give them an 8-6 lead at the 40 minute whistle.
Rovers needed to score first in the second period to reassert their authority on the game and did so through Keal Carlile who pounced for the four-pointer after Gateshead failed to deal with the danger of Carlile’s own kick through.
And despite stubborn resistance from the Championship 1 side, Rovers added further tries through Josh Guzdek and Matty Marsh to seal the win.
Dewsbury 23-10 Halifax
Glenn Morrison secured his first win as Dewsbury boss after the Rams saw off Halifax on Sunday.
Ryan Hepworth and Jy-mel Coleman crossed to give Dewsbury a 10-0 lead, before Anthony Thackeray’s unconverted try cut the deficit to 6 points after 30 minutes.
Dewsbury centre Elliot Cosgrove intercepted a loose Halifax pass to further extend the Rams’ lead as the half-time whistle blew.
Matthew Tebb put Dewsbury out of reach with a try just after the break although Ben Heaton was able to grab ‘Fax a late consolation try in the dying moments.
Barrow Raiders 20-23 Keighley Cougars
Keighley edged out Barrow in a warm-up game that looks like setting the tone for a close-fought 2013 Championship season.
At a damp Craven Park, Raiders’ Liam Harrison saw his opening try cancelled out by Paul White to make it 4-4 at the break.
The second period was much more entertaining, Danny Lawton’s try gave Keighley the lead after 45 minutes but Barrow scored two quick tries of their own through Dean McGilvray and Max Wiper to give the Raiders a 14-10 lead.
As the game became more open Cougars seized the initiative, Jo Chandler and Danny Jones opened up a two score margin and although McGilvray’s second try saw Keighley’s advantage cut to two points, a late Scott Leatherbarrow drop-goal put the game out of reach.
Hunslet Hawks 40-0 Hunslet All Stars
Lee Mapals grabbed four tries for the Hawks in an emphatic win between as the two amateur sides met for just the second time.
York Knights 26-6 York Select
Jason Golden grabbed two tries in a comfortable victory for the Knights in their first pre-season game.