Harlequins RL 22-26 Salford City Reds

Harlequins RL (12) 22
Tries: Orr, Temata, Bryan, Jones-Bishop Goals: Orr 3

Salford (4) 26
Tries: Fitzpatrick, Tyrer 3, Broughton Goals: Holdsworth 3

Tyrer's third try secured Salford's win at Harlequins

Salford winger Steve Tyrer grabbed a second-half hat-trick of tries as they claimed their first win of the season.

The Reds came from 18-6 down to leapfrog Harlequins off the foot of the Super League table.

First-half tries from scrum-half Danny Orr and Karl Temata, followed by Lamont Bryan's early second-half effort, looked to have put Quins in control.

But Tyrer ran in two in seven minutes and fellow winger Jodie Broughton added another before Tyrer clinched victory.

Home full-back Ben Jones-Bishop bagged a fourth Quins try in the last minute - but it came too late to affect the outcome.

Salford full-back Karl Fitzpatrick had earlier claimed the first try of the afternoon, while Daniel Holdsworth was successful with three of his five conversion attempts - and Orr also landed three kicks for the home side.

Salford took the lead in their first visit to Quins territory when Fitzpatrick came into the line, opened up space for himself with a neat dummy and darted over in the corner.

And injury-hit Quins suffered more woe on 29 minutes when forward Jason Golden was stretchered off after taking Holdsworth's kick full in the face.

But the hosts maintained their tempo and the pressure told when danger man Orr wriggled through a gap before converting his own try.

Just two minutes later, that advantage was increased as Quins cashed in on a howler from Tyrer, who misjudged a Chad Randall kick, allowing the hosts to regain possession, from which Temata crashed over.

The Reds then had Jeremy Smith sin-binned for a late hit on Orr as they lost some of their composure.

But, ironically, it was just after Smith had returned to the field on 50 minutes when Quins got their third try, Luke Williamson offloading to Oliver Wilkes, who fell just short only for Bryan to score, stretching the home side well clear at 18-4.

But the Reds fought back with Fitzpatrick's lofted pass allowing Tyrer to atone for his earlier error as he dived over in the corner.

Tyrer then helped himself to his second try after some slick passing from the Salford backs, who were now running Quins ragged.

And the visitors took a deserved lead with five minutes left when Broughton finished off a flowing move by scorching over in the corner.

Tyrer completed his hat-trick, leaving Jones-Bishop's late score nothing more than a consolation.

Harlequins coach Brian McDermott:

"I know people will look at the score and see we lost to Salford and be negative about it but we cannot afford that.

"It was not a case of us throwing it away. Salford got hold of the game with their kicking play and we just could not get away from our line in the second half.

"We did not make smart decisions and that cost us, but the players will learn from that."

Salford City Reds coach Shaun McRae:

"It is a massive relief to get that first win and get off the foot of the table. I am hoping this is the catalyst for us.

"We have lit the fuse for the season now and it is up to us to carry on the work.

"The key for us was possession - out of the last 15 sets in the game 10 were ours and that tells you everything."

Harlequins RL: Jones-Bishop, O'Callaghan, Clubb, Howell, Sharp, Melling, Orr, Ward, Randall, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Williamson, Bolger, Golden.
Replacements: Bibb, Wilkes, Bryan, Temata.

Salford: Fitzpatrick, Broughton, Henry, Gibson, Tyrer, Holdsworth, M Smith, Parker, Alker, Boyle, Littler, Adamson, Swain.
Replacements: Leuluai, J Smith, Jewitt, Sidlow.

Att: 2,395

Ref: B Thaler (Wakefield).