Widnes 24-16 Salford: Vikings leave it late against the Red Devils
By Press Association Sport
Last Updated: 23/03/18 5:58am
Late tries from Greg Burke and Aaron Heremaia sealed a gusty comeback from Widnes as they edged Salford 24-16.
All the signs were pointing to a workmanlike Red Devils victory after Widnes had failed to hit any kind of form in the game, but they dragged themselves back into it with a red-hot final quarter.
The last time Widnes turned over Salford in Super League was back in 2015 and the game looked like it was taking a familiar turn until the Vikings grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and never let go.
Salford appeared to be cruising to a crucial win but they left the Select Security Stadium empty handed and wondering how the game had got away from them.
The spotlight and pressure is now all on Ian Watson's side ahead of the crunch clash with Catalans Dragons next week, while the Vikings' three wins from seven games sets them up nicely for the busy Easter period.
The Red Devils made an electric start to proceedings with a number of high-intensity action plays that nearly put them over at least once in the opening exchanges.
Salford's fast-paced start should have been rewarded early doors as they ran the ball on the last tackle, with quick hands sending new signing and debutant Derrell Olpherts over in the corner, however the try was denied by the video referee.
They finally got the score they were searching for on 17 minutes as Robert Lui's high kick was allowed to bounce by the Vikings and up popped Josh Jones to recover the ball and offload to Craig Kopczak for the opening score.
The video ref was called into action again as Widnes' Ted Chapelhow looked to barge over but that was chalked off by the off-field official. However, the very next play resulted in a four-pointer as Joe Mellor found a gap to send Chris Dean crashing in.
Lui got Salford back in front with two consecutive penalties as Widnes' discipline faded towards the end of the half.
But it was not long before Salford's aggression got the better of them as Lama Tasi was sent to the sin-bin within four minutes of the restart.
The Vikings made hay while the blockbusting prop was off the field and momentum changed in their favour.
Widnes gave the ball some air and Rhys Hanbury's burst and pass to Krisnan Inu gave the Kiwi space to touchdown out wide for a try that he converted himself.
Somehow Denis Betts' side found themselves 12-10 in front without ever really threatening but that good work was soon undone by defensive errors as Ed Chamberlain coughed up a Lui kick into the path of Weller Hauraki who could not be stopped.
Another Lui goal inched Salford closer to the finishing line but the game was far from over as Widnes hit back through Burke after he connected with Heremaia's dummy-half pass.
Finally Danny Craven stabbed a grubber kick through that Heremaia got on the end of to put the Vikings in charge to see out the game.