Twelve-man Catalans Dragons came from behind to claim a hard-fought 17-16 win over spirited crisis club Salford Red Devils.
The Red Devils’ very existence might be under threat after a winding-up petition served on them was adjourned on Wednesday, but there was no faulting the hunger of their players.
Tries from Jack Darbyshire and Neil Tchamambe – two of several emergency loan players brought in to help the club complete the season – put the hosts into a 10-4 interval lead at the Salford Community Stadium.
The sending-off of Franck Maria following a high shot on Emmanuel Waine then tilted the balance further in Salford’s favour but the French side rallied after the break.
Jordan Dezaria and Denive Balmforth scored in quick succession to give the Dragons the lead and Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet converted both to add to his first-half try.
Ugo Tison made sure of only the third win of coach Joel Tomkins’ reign with a late drop goal before Darbyshire set Tchamambe up for a consolation after the final hooter.
As well as their court hearing, Salford had seen assistant coach Kurt Haggerty become the latest key figure to leave in another tough week, yet they looked determined to follow up their shock win at Warrington.
The Red Devils thought they had scored an early try when Joe Mellor sent Nathan Connell over in the corner but he was just deemed to be in touch.
Their opener came with 16 minutes gone as Leon Ruan broke and offloaded for Leigh loanee Darbyshire to touch down with Rowan Milnes adding the conversion.
Salford conceded two penalties in quick succession to allow Catalans a chance to post a quick reply.
The visitors applied pressure and it told as Cesar Rouge ran towards the line and offloaded for Ben Garcia to set up Aispuro-Bichet.
The Catalans full-back’s elation quickly turned to despair as he lost possession in a tackle by Dan Russell and Salford quickly worked the ball wide for Tchamambe to cross.
The game’s major talking point came from the following restart as Waine was badly hurt and required several minutes of treatment after a heavy collision with Maria.
He was eventually carried off on a stretcher and Maria was dismissed, to no complaints, before the game restarted.
The introduction of Balmforth changed the tone of the game and he set up Dezaria to crash over from close range before pouncing on a Esan Marsters fumble to score himself soon after.
Salford applied late pressure but a Milnes kick proved just too strong for Mellor and Jack Walker and Dan Russell had an effort disallowed for a push on Paul Seguier.
Tison eased Catalans’ nerves with his late one-pointer and that was to prove the difference as Salford fought to the end with Tchamambe’s late try and another Milnes goal making the final margin a slender one.
And with the final whistle sounding, the Red Devils side made their way over to the supporting fans and show their appreciation for their support.
The Red Devils will now redirect their focus towards their next fixture against Huddersfield Giants at the John Smith’s Stadium.
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The article was contributed by Andy Hampson, PA
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