Tyrer stars in Salford win
A hat-trick from Steve Tyrer inspired Salford to a come-from-behind 26-22 victory against Harlequins.
Last Updated: 14/03/10 5:28pm
A hat-trick from Steve Tyrer inspired Salford to a come-from-behind 26-22 victory against Harlequins at the Stoop.
The Reds moved off the foot off the Super League table and sent Quins to the basement in the process after their first victory of the 2010 campaign.
The hosts tried to put the pressure on early, completing consecutive sets in the Salford half without truly troubling the Reds' line.
And they were made to pay for their lack of cutting edge after 10 minutes when the visitors took the lead in their first visit to Quins territory.
Full-back Karl Fitzpatrick came into the line and deceived the defence with a smart dummy before darting over in the corner.
With both sides taking a conservative approach and playing for field position, there was precious little to entertain a sparse Stoop crowd early on.
Danny Orr was heavily involved for Quins and his elusive run freed David Howell on 25 minutes with Howell's grubber kick just failing to find Will Sharp.
Determined
The home side were back on the front foot and this time threatened to score, but a determined goal-line defence from Salford kept them out.
The Londoners aimed for the corners but found Reds wingers Jodie Broughton and Tyrer providing a stern rearguard.
Quins were depleted through injury on 29 minutes when forward Jason Golden was stretchered off the pitch after catching a Daniel Holdsworth kick in the face.
But the hosts kept the pressure on and finally got the breakthrough when Orr touched down and converted himself to hand his side a two-point advantage.
The lead was extended shortly afterwards as Tyrer misjudged a Chad Randall kick, letting the hosts gather possession and cross the line through Karl Temata.
Things turned from bad to worse for Salford when Jeremy Smith was sin-binned for a late hit on Orr.
Quins failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage, but struck almost immediately after Smith returned to the field on 50 minutes.
Tries
Luke Williamson offloaded to Oliver Wilkes and although the former Wakefield man came up just short, Lamont Bryan was on hand to crash over.
The Reds began to hit back and Fitzpatrick's lofted pass allowed Tyrer to dive over in the corner.
Salford were now in the ascendancy and only fantastic tackles from Ben Jones-Bishop and Orr prevented them from scoring again.
But the visitors closed the gap to two points on the hour mark when Tyrer crossed the line for his second try after some slick passing from the Salford backs.
The Reds continued to surge forward and took a deserved lead with five minutes remaining when Broughton finished off a flowing move by racing over in the corner.
Tyrer was then on hand to complete his hat-trick and kill the game off, leaving Jones-Bishop's late score merely a consolation.