Salford coach Ian Watson delighted to reach Challenge Cup semi-finals

Salford coach Ian Watson was pleased his players stuck by each other to beat Catalans as they reached the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup.

A try from Dan Sarginson in golden point extra-time saw Salford secure a 22-18 win over Catalans in the Challenge Cup quarter-final on Friday night.

It means that less than 12 months after guiding Salford to a maiden Super League Grand Final, Watson is just 80 minutes away from taking them to their first Challenge Cup final for 51 years.

REPORT: Catalans 18-22 Salford: Dan Sarginson try wins it for Red Devils in golden point extra-time

Watson said: “It’s a great result for us. We went 12-0 down early and we’ve been in that position recently where other teams have come back and caught us on the hop. We managed to reverse that tonight.

“In the first 20 minutes they were dominating field position but I thought the way we coped with that was really good.

“We were a lot more resilient defensively. In the first 20 minutes of both halves we were poor but we showed when we hold the ball we can score points.

“It was all about the boys sticking with the process and backing each other. There were a few scrambled efforts in defence, their attitude to defence was spot on and that’s what ultimately won us the game.

“I thought Kev Brown read it perfectly at the end. It’s invaluable experience where you learn to execute under that kind of pressure.”

Watson was delighted with the debut of England centre Kallum Watkins.

Watson said: “He was good. For his first hit-out, we couldn’t have asked for more, he gave us composure on that right edge.”

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