Salford coach Paul Rowley praised the “phenomenal” character of his side after a slender 17-16 loss to Catalans Dragons.
The crisis-riddled Red Devils, who have been mired in financial turmoil all season, could have gone out of business this week but a winding-up petition served on them was adjourned on Wednesday.
To compound their problems in a season in which they have been hit by a raft of player departures, assistant coach Kurt Haggerty – who had been set to take over as head coach from Rowley next season – also left this week.
Yet after producing a shock win at Warrington last week, a side bolstered by several emergency loan and short-term signings rallied again to threaten another surprise against the Dragons.
In the end they fell narrowly short at the Salford Community Stadium, with a drop goal from Ugo Tison ultimately proving crucial for the French outfit.
Rowley said: “I think the most pleasing thing is we’re very connected as a team, and that’s a mad thing to say with a bunch of lads who’ve just come together in the last two weeks.
“I think you saw a group of lads who wanted to work for each other, who protected one another, solved problems that probably weren’t in their job description just to help the team.
“As individuals, they’re all exceptional. Their attitude, character and commitment to each other and to the badge has been phenomenal.”
Salford led 10-4 after tries from Jack Darbyshire and Neil Tchamambe but could not take advantage of the sending-off of Franck Maria for a high tackle on Emmanuel Waine, who left the game on a stretcher.
The Dragons hit back through Denive Balmforth and Jordan Dezaria, adding to an early try from Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet, and Tison’s one-pointer settled the contest before another Tchamambe effort.
Paul Rowley said: “I thought we was defensively too passive and we went off-script, offensively as well. We had a dig and come out the wrong side, unfortunately.
“We were unfortunate with two disallowed tries but that’s the way the cookie crumbles.”
The game was held up for several minutes for Waine, who was knocked out in the collision, to receive treatment but Rowley had no update.
He said: “I know he was out for two or three minutes, so it was certainly a heavy hit. Hopefully, he’s on the better side now, recovering.”
Catalans’ victory was only their third since Joel Tomkins took over as coach in May and the performance saw him go through a range of emotions.
He said: “In the first half we were very, very poor – disgraceful. I thought some of the actions in the first half were embarrassingly bad.
“But the fact is that we faced a lot of adversity – down to 12 men and injuries.
“So I’m proud of the lads, I’m proud of the second-half performance. We’re just not a good team at the minute.”
Salford Red Devils and Paul Rowley will now prepare themselves, as they travel to their game against Huddersfield Giants.
Article provided by Andy Hampson, PA
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