Salford (16) 20
Tries: Ratchford, Goulding, Henry Goals: Wilshere 2
St Helens (0) 10
Tries: Dixon, Meli Goals: Eastmond
 Salford's Mark Henry is tackled by Ade Gardner and Chris Flannery |
Stefan Ratchford scored two tries as struggling Salford stunned Super League leaders St Helens, for whom Sean Long suffered a suspected broken jaw. Ratchford touched down twice in the first 10 minutes and John Wilshere converted both to put the Reds 12-0 up. Ratchford orchestrated a third score in the 16th minute, with centre Darrell Goulding crossing in the left corner. Andrew Dixon and Francis Meli scored for Saints after the break, but Mark Henry also crossed for the hosts. The result ended Saints' record-breaking run of 16 straight away wins on a night when nothing worked for Mick Potter's side. They badly missed injured trio Keiron Cunningham, Leon Pryce and Jon Wilkin and their injury woes were compounded when Long was replaced in the second half after suffering a suspected broken jaw. Long sustained the injury following a tackle from Mark Henry and immediately signalled his pain before being replaced. Potter said: "Longy has got a broken jaw we think so he's going to hospital tonight. "I didn't see the incident and we'll just have to wait and see how serious it is." Salford went into the game without rising star Richie Myler through injury but they drove at the heart of St Helens from the first whistle.  | 606: DEBATE |
Saints were punished in the fourth minute when a high, bouncing kick from Jeremy Smith was badly misjudged by Paul Wellens. Ratchford was on to it in a flash and grounded the ball just wide of the posts to give Wilshere a routine conversion. Four minutes later Ratchford's teasing kick rebounded off a post and was scooped back into his path by Wilshere's delightful pass. Ratchford touched down for his second score and was twice involved in a fine sweeping move which was finished by Goulding. Wilshere, having converted the first two scores, could not land the third and Saints, predictably, woke up as the half progressed. Long found Maurie Fa'asavalu and then Kyle Eastmond with fine passes but both men knocked on when the whitewash beckoned. Saints increased the tempo further after the restart and were rewarded five minutes in when Long embarked on a fine burst through midfield. He found Dixon in support to his right and the young replacement had the pace to reach the line and Eastmond added the extras. A St Helens fightback looked on the cards when Smith was sent to the sinbin on 53 minutes for lashing out at Wellens. Saints should have made their numerical advantage pay moments later when Eastmond's pace took him through a gap, but young debutant Jamie Ellis knocked on. In the 58th minute, another probing kick from Ratchford was not dealt with and Henry arrived to ground the ball in the left corner. Wilshere missed the conversion. Meli squeezed over in the left corner in the closing stages but Eastmond could not convert, and Salford held on for a morale-boosting win.
St Helens coach Mick Potter:
"The other team were better than us and we made too many errors. "It was probably, by the standard that the players have set, the poorest performance in my six months here." Salford boss Shaun McRae:
"I can't explain it. You play against sides that are evenly matched and sometimes you just don't perform, but the best sides bring the best out of you. "This victory was just reward for the players' effort. We had a set gameplan and it worked. And I've got to give credit to the players for being able to implement to that plan to a tee. "I'm not happy with Jeremy Smith's sinbinning but I'm generally very happy because we've beaten the best side in St Helens."
Salford: Wilshere, Henry, Littler, Goulding, McGilvray, Smith, Ratchford, Cashmere, Alker, Stapleton, Adamson, Sidlow, Swain. St Helens: Wellens, Gardner, Flannery, Dean, Meli, Eastmond, Long, Graham, Roby, Hargreaves, Ashurst, Puletua, Gilmour.
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