Sam Bowring’s second-half try helped Salford RLFC to a famous 20-10 win against Swinton Lions at Heywood Road in their first league meeting since 1992.
Dave Hewitt’s men were made to work for their second Championship win of the season as they battled to a hard-fought victory over their city rivals in front of 2,785 supporters in the Easter sunshine.
Hewitt became Salford boss following Mike Grady’s departure in March and was visibly ecstatic in the stands to recorded his first win at the helm.
His side began the game brightly and went ahead after seven minutes when Jack Holmes latched onto the end of Toby Hughes’ grubber kick, inadvertently knocking the ball past covering Swinton defenders to score.
After Jack Gatcliffe converted his kick, Brad Dwyer raced through a gap in the Lions’ defence to add a second try and put Salford firmly in control.
But any questions about the resolve of this Swinton squad that may have arisen on the back of seven straight defeats, which saw head coach Paul Wood replaced by Anthony Murray in the week, were put to rest as they battled back to cut the deficit and give home supporters hope of an unlikely turnaround.
After being held up over the tryline midway through the half, a free-flowing Swinton move ended yards out when an attempted offload was dropped and the ball went to ground, sparking the first of several coming togethers between the teams as tensions flared.
Salford failed to heed that warning sign and conceded after 26 minutes when quick hands opened the space for winger Ellis Anderson to score in the corner as Swinton continued to grow in confidence.
But roared on by thousands of travelling supporters inside the ground, Salford battled back and extended their lead before the interval.
A spell of sustained pressure was rewarded when they were awarded a penalty for a high tackle, and Gatcliffe duly converted to give his side a 14-4 lead at the break.
Swinton’s Louie Roberts and Salford’s Brad Dwyer were sent to the sin bin six minutes after the restart and the home side capitalised on the extra space on 55 minutes when Louie Roberts broke the Salford line, charged up field and slick passing released Tom Ratchford to crash over.
But any momentum Swinton were beginning to build was lost through a series of handling and disciplinary errors which allowed Salford to muscle their way into the ascendancy and re-establish their 10-point buffer.
After the hosts were penalised for a tip tackle, Salford made the most of a set from 30 meters as Sam Bowring forced his way over under the posts before Gatcliffe converted again.
With the Lions’ afternoon going from bad to worse and their players being taunted by vocal away supporters sure of Salford’s victory two minutes from time, Louie Roberts was sin-binned for a second time before Samy Kabula was sent off for a dangerous tackle as Swinton ended with 11 men.
Victory on derby day means that Salford have climbed to 17th place in the Championship and have claimed the bragging rights over their local rivals after a 33-year wait for a competitive meeting between the sides.
Swinton Lions are yet to record a win in the second tier this season and are above Halifax Panthers, who were handed a 12-point deduction in March. New head coach Anthony Murray will take solace from the narrow defeat, but will also be aware of the uphill battle he faces to get points on the board in a tough division.
