Salford RLFC head coach Mike Grady said his team’s historic first league win was the result of “a lot of hard work” after they beat Hunslet 29-18 in the Championship.
The Salford boss was appointed just 11 days before the club’s opening game of the season against Oldham and had to work around the clock to scramble together a playing squad on short notice.
Grady felt the side had improved in each of their three defeats against Oldham, Barrow and Super League Hull FC, but had refused to “earmark” when supporters should expect a league win.
Having seen his side overcome amateur side Hammersmith Hills Hoists in the Challenge Cup second round, he was confident his team had the quality to record a victory in the Championship.
And he was proven right on Sunday as Salford RLFC overcame Hunslet in the final ten minutes to earn their first league points since the club’s rebirth.
Boosted by the arrival of five loan signings from Wigan in Noah Hodkinson, Taylor Kerr, George O’Loughlin, Lukas Mason and Nathan Lowe, Grady’s men were impressive winners in adverse conditions at the CorpAcq stadium.
After Eddie Battye surged over to the right of the posts, Billy Jowitt kicked his only conversion to give the visitors a 6-0 lead after 17 minutes.
But Salford turned the game on its head as Brad Dwyer sprinted over from acting-half before debutant Hodkinson latched onto the end of a kick from Toby Hughes to put Salford 12-6 up at the interval, with Nathan Lowe scoring both conversion attempts.
Hunslet began the second half re-energised and established a lead after 51 minutes through tries from Mo Agoro and Lee Gaskell.
However, Salford responded again when Hodkinson got on the end of a low kick from Dwyer for his second try of the afternoon.
With the hosts reduced to 12 men temporarily after Dwyer had been sin-binned, Hunslet drew level after 65 minutes when Gaskell forced his way over from close range.
The moment Salford fans who followed the club through liquidation and rebirth had long dreamt of came six minutes from time when Ollie Garmston intercepted a slack pass and raced the length of the field to score.
Hughes kicked a field goal to put Salford out of reach before Nathan Lowe added the gloss to an impressive home performance with a try on the hooter as Grady’s men made history.
After the breathless match, Grady said the result was a payoff for the hard work carried out by his team and the club’s hierarchy.
He said: “I’m delighted. It’s been a lot of hard work, and there’s still a lot of hard work to come, but just for everyone who’s worked for it, the owners, Ryan, myself, staff, players, it’s for everyone.
“It’s not obviously the 13 lads out on the pitch, but there’s a squad of us and it’s for everyone else off the field as well.
Grady felt a bright start in touch conditions set the tone for a successful afternoon.
“We started off really well with our kicking game. Our first four or five sets pinned them in the corner. That was the message: hit it in behind, keep them there and make them work,” he said.
The Salford boss reserved praise for new signing Hodkinson, who marked his debut with two well-taken tries.
“I couldn’t fault him, he looked really sharp and threatening from fullback, as did Toby (Hughes) and Matty Ross.
“They all dug in and that was the message down to the bench at the end of the game. I said: ‘I just want the lads to give 110 per cent.’ We were down a player, so we had to dig in, and that’s what we did.”
Grady joked that the Hughes drop goal that took the game beyond Hunslet and secured the win, “only just went over.”
“It was brilliant and then we got another try at the end, which showcased that the lads carried on going for the full 80 minutes.”
Salford’s head coach said the win was “down to repetition.”
“We’re working hard in training, we’ve had no pre-season, against Hunslet, for example, they’ve probably had three months, we just keep working and we’ll keep going.
“The lads are excited, lads are delighted, and listen, they deserve that, they’ve worked hard,” he explained.
