Warrington 12-22 Salford: Krisnan Inu double eases Red Devils to shock win
Last Updated: 12/07/19 11:21pm
Krisnan Inu claimed two tries as Salford Red Devils recorded their second shock Betfred Super League win of the season at the Halliwell Jones Stadium - beating second-placed Warrington Wolves 22-12.
The Red Devils had stunned the Wolves with a convincing 36-12 win on Good Friday at the same ground and were good value for another deserved success to keep them very much in the play-off picture.
In a battle between the top two in the Man of Steel standings it was Salford's Jackson Hastings who got the upper hand over Warrington's Blake Austin, with another excellent display from the Red Devils half-back which also saw him create two tries for his side.
Inu claimed two tries and three goals for a personal haul of 14 points with Salford's other tries coming through Ryan Lannon and Kris Welham.
It was a below-par performance from Warrington on a frustrating night for Steve Price's side as they claimed tries from Jason Clark and Matt Davies and two Dec Patton conversions.
Warrington were without both first-choice props in Chris Hill and Mike Cooper and made two changes from the side that won 36-6 at London.
Joshua Johnson came in for his first start for Salford after joining from Barrow and Junior Sa'u, Adam Walker and Adam Lawton also came back into the side in place of Ken Sio, Ben Nakubuwai, Josh Jones and Greg Johnson.
Warrington were quick out of the blocks and looked to have taken the lead after just three minutes when Toby King sent Josh Charnley clear but the try was harshly ruled out for a forward pass by referee Chris Kendall.
And while the home side were still shaking their heads at the validity of the decision they were caught cold as Salford second rower Lannon broke clear from midfield and raced 40 metres for a fine solo effort which Inu converted.
The Wolves looked to recover from that setback but despite dominating possession and territory were finding it hard work to find any chinks in a stubborn Salford defence.
But they finally found a way through after 24 minutes thanks to the two Clarks as Daryl's pass from dummy-half saw Jason crash over from close range and Patton converted to level matters at 6-6.
But the visitors took a two-point advantage into half-time when Inu landed a penalty after the Wolves were adjudged offside to make it 8-6 at the interval.
And Salford made a dream start to the second half with two tries within seven minutes of the restart to put them in command of proceedings.
Firstly, Welham skipped out of more poor defence to score in the corner and then - three minutes later - Wolves full-back Jake Mamo failed to collect Tui Lolohea's high kick and the Red Devils took full advantage as Hastings regathered and put in a second kick to the corner which Inu collected to touch down and make it 16-6.
It got even better for Ian Watson's side when, following another teasing Hastings kick, Sa'u managed to flick the ball back into play before it ran dead and the grateful Inu was on hand to touch the ball down for a superb try which he converted from the touchline to make it 22-6.
Warrington's cause was not helped when Sitaleki Akauola was sent to the sin bin for a high tackle on Tyrone McCarthy but, despite being down to 12 men, they claimed a try through Davis which Patton converted to give them hope at 22-12 with 17 minutes remaining.
The Wolves threw plenty at the Red Devils in the closing stages to try and mount a dramatic late comeback but the Salford defence held firm to claim another deserved win.