MATCH REPORT | CATALANS DRAGONS 18-22 SALFORD RED DEVILS
Friday 18th September 2020.
Dan Sarginson raced in for a golden point winner, to see Salford Red Devils through to the Coral Challenge Cup semi-finals.
Tries from Krisnan Inu and James Greenwood, along with Sarginson’s first of the night, ensured the Red Devils were level at the end of regular time.
The Dragons had made a quick start, with tries from Fouad Yaha and James Maloney helping them to a 12-0 lead. Only an impressive recovery tackle from Kallum Watkins on his debut prevented from Sam Tomkins giving the french side a greater advantage.
Once they established field position, Salford proved the threat they posed. The Red Devils scored twice in the space of five minutes and cut the gap to two points.
First Sarginson latched onto an offload from Inu to go in at the corner, with the former New Zealand international then adding the conversion to take his career points tally beyond 1000.
Not content with the milestone, Inu soon added a try of his own, after Kevin Brown created an opening with his pass out wide.
Halftime: Catalans Dragons 12 Salford Red Devils 10
Pauli Pauli was sent to the sin-bin for a challenge on Maloney in the second-half and Catalans took full advantage through Matt Whitley.
The Red Devils responded, when James Greenwood reached over the line and then Inu levelled the scores at 18-18 with a penalty.
Two ambitious drop-goal attempts from Inu failed in the remainder of regular time, but still saw the opposition start from deep on each occasion.
Salford brought an end to the drama in the second minute of extra-time. Inu had dropped deep for the drop-goal as a decoy, meaning Brown and Kris Welham could combine to send Sarginson in unopposed on the wing.
This result means that less than 12 months after Ian Watson guided his side to the Betfred Super League Grand Final, they are now just 80 minutes away from a first Challenge Cup Final appearance in 51 years.
Red Devils supporters can hear the post-match thoughts of Ian Watson HERE on RDTV.
Fulltime: Catalans Dragons 18 Salford Red Devils 22
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