REPORT: TOWN VS SALFORD

Our Town men took on Salford away on Sunday.

Workington Town produced some eye-catching attacking rugby and crossed for five tries on the road, but ultimately came away empty-handed as an in-form Salford side claimed the points on Sunday afternoon.

Facing a team that has found momentum in recent weeks, Town knew they would be tested throughout the 80 minutes. While the final scoreline was not the one the visitors were looking for, there were plenty of encouraging signs in attack as Town continued to create opportunities against a strong Salford outfit.

The hosts made a fast start and opened the scoring inside the opening few minutes before adding a second shortly afterwards to establish an early advantage.

Town responded positively and got themselves back into the contest through Zarrin Galea. Showing great awareness, the fullback chased through his own kick and grounded the ball to register the visitors' first points of the afternoon.

Salford continued to apply pressure and added further scores, but Town refused to go away. One of the highlights of the first half came from Logan Blacker, whose determination and skill produced a superb individual try. The on-loan half-back chipped ahead twice before regathering and touching down to keep Town within touching distance at the break.

Trailing by 12 points at half-time, Town remained firmly in the contest and looked to build momentum after the restart.

The second half began with a controversial moment as Town felt they had a strong case for a knock-on in the build-up to Salford's next score, but the try was awarded and the hosts extended their lead.

Despite the setback, Town continued to battle and were rewarded when Tuarae Rawhiti showed excellent reactions to follow up his own kick and score. Jake Carter added the conversion as the visitors once again closed the gap.

As the game opened up, Town continued to ask questions of the Salford defence. Jack Ainley crossed for another well-worked try, while Galea grabbed his second of the afternoon after bursting through a gap to score under the posts.

Although Salford ultimately managed to pull away in the closing stages, Town's willingness to keep attacking until the final whistle was evident throughout.

There were several encouraging individual performances, with Galea causing problems whenever he had the ball in hand, Blacker producing moments of quality, and Ainley once again showing his value in attack.

Most pleasing was the fact that Town never stopped competing. Even when the scoreboard was against them, the players continued to play positively and create scoring opportunities against a side that has climbed the Championship table in recent weeks.

Attention now turns to the next challenge as Town look to build on the attacking improvements shown this weekend against Hunslet at home this Sunday. While there are areas to tighten up defensively, the squad demonstrated enough quality with the ball to suggest there are positive performances and results ahead.

The support from the travelling Town faithful was, as always, outstanding and everyone at the club would like to thank those who made the journey. Your backing continues to mean everything to the players and staff as we continue working hard to move this season forward.