Salford City Reds 56-16 Bradford Bulls

Salford (24) 56
Tries: Gibson 3, Henry 2, Holdsworth, Broughton, Smith, Ratchford, Adamson Goals: Holdsworth 8
Bradford (6) 16
Tries: Lynch, Herbert 2
Goals: Herbert 2

Salford winger Ashley Gibson made it five Super League tries for the season

Dazzling Salford forgot their off-field woes as they beat Bradford with easily their best performance of the season.

After trailing 6-0 inside 90 seconds, centre Ashley Gibson grabbed a hat-trick as Salford ran in 10 tries to earned only their fourth league win.

Winger Mark Henry also weighed in with a double, while Daniel Holdsworth's try and eight goals meant a 20-point haul.

Salford's other tries came from Jodie Broughton, Stefan Ratchford and Matty Smith and Luke Adamson.

Bradford's early try came from skipper Andy Lynch, their other two coming from Marc Herbert, who scored early in the second half, before getting another late on.

It was a pity only 2,809 fans - Salford's lowest gate of the season - turned up.

But the stayaways missed an astonishingly fine display, given all the distractions of the Reds' off-field woes this week, which have seen assistant coach Malcolm Alker apparently suspended from training as he remains in dispute with the club.

With head coach Shaun McRae still on sick leave, the Reds had another of their coaching staff, St Helens old boy Phil Veivers, at the helm.

And, although the Reds have a good track record in this fixture, having won three of their last four home clashes against Bradford, this was an emphatic way to lift the gloom caused by successive Super League defeats by Crusaders and Castleford.

The Bulls made a flying start when skipper Lynch charged over from Heath L'Estrange's short pass after only 90 seconds for his second try of the season.

Winter signing Kyle Briggs, back at stand-off for the first time since suffering a knee injury in the opening game of the season against Leeds in Cardiff, was then held up over the line.

But Salford hit back with two tries in three minutes, both approved by video ref Thierry Alibert.

Holdsworth took Vinnie Anderson's pass to force his way over before adding the conversion, then he threw out a long pass for Henry to squeeze over in the corner.

After Holdsworth's touchline conversion made it 12-6, Bradford paid the price for appalling handling when Gibson, back in the centre after a four-match injury absence, to mark his comeback with a walk-in try.

Salford then made it 24-6 at the break when Matty Smith sprinted clear for Patten to put Jodie Broughton over in the corner, Holdsworth again converting to maintain his flawless kicking record.

Bradford needed to score first after the interval and Herbert obliged after 50 seconds with a superb weaving run from a Matt Diskin pass.

Bryn Hargreaves then had a try disallowed for a forward pass from Herbert as the Bulls tried desperately to get back into the contest.

Their hopes looked to be dashed when Steve Wild managed to slip out a pass under pressure and Holdsworth put Smith over to make it 30-10.

Gibson's second try, after shrugging off Paul Sykes, confirmed Salford's superiority and he completed his treble after slick play by Smith, Holdsworth and Patten.

Ratchford added an eighth touchdown after Patten stole the ball from Tom Olbison 10 minutes from time, Holdsworth's conversion making it 44-10.

It was becoming an embarrassment for Bradford, who then conceded another try to Henry with Holdsworth's conversion bringing up the half-century.

The Bulls had to wait until three minutes from time for Herbert to bag his second and Bradford's third try. But Salford still had the final say with Luke Adamson adding their 10th touchdown.

Salford director of football Steve Simms:

"Phil has worked really hard this week. We are down on staff and he has done a magnificent job.

"Daniel is a quality player. It has taken a while for him to get back to form after a close-season operation, but he is linking up well with his ex-Canterbury team-mate Luke Patten.

"They know each other's play very well and Luke too is getting better and better."

Bradford Bulls boss Mick Potter:

"I need to take responsibility and make sure the players adhere to what we want to do.

"We know we can do better than that. There was a little bit of misdirected effort and I need to round a few people up.

"We were far from our best and the only bright spot is that we are out again on Thursday against Leeds. They will be up for it after a loss themselves."

Salford: Patten; Broughton, Gibson, Ratchford, Henry; Smith, Holdsworth; Cashmere, Godwin, Boyle, Nero, Anderson, Wild.

Replacements: L Adamson, Paleaaesina, Sidlow, Sneyd.

Bradford: Kearney; Raynor, Sykes, Walker, Ainscough; Briggs, Herbert; Lynch, L'Estrange, Kopczak, Elima, Whitehead, Olbison.

Replacements: Diskin, Hargreaves, Donaldson, Burgess.

Attendance: 2,809.

Referee: James Child (Dewsbury).