Celtic Crusaders 25-12 Salford

Celtic Crusaders (18) 25
Tries: Chalk, Blackwood, Withers, Smith Goals: Quinn 4, Smith
Salford (12) 12
Tries: Adamson, Littler Goals: Wilshere 2

Struggling Celtic Crusaders recorded only their third Super League win off the season thanks to a superb fightback against Salford.

It started badly for the home side as Salford's Luke Adamson and Stuart Littler scored tries to make it 12-0.

However, John Dixon's Crusaders began their comeback after 20 minutes when Marshall Chalk touched down.

Tries from Anthony Blackwood, Lincoln Withers and Matt Smith made sure of the victory at Brewery Field.

Having lost their last three games, it looked like Crusaders fans were in for another rough night, but, despite going behind early on, the home side found the strength to bounce back against the side second-bottom of the Super League.

Chalk took a high ball on the sixth tackle on the Salford 25-yard line and raced over in the corner to start the fight back.

606: DEBATE

" After a week of extremely negative press the Crusaders have answered their critics "

Wing Blackwood grabbed a try in the corner nine minutes later after a pass on the left in the Salford danger zone, which full-back Damien Quinn, who had landed Chalk's conversion, booted as well.

That levelled matters and the Crusaders were soon in the lead when hooker Lincoln Withers found space to dive under some bodies from a few yards out to leave Quinn an easy kick.

Stand-off Smith grabbed a fourth touchdown of the match, which Quinn converted to give the Crusaders a 10-point lead.

A Smith drop-goal in the 80th minute provided the finishing touch for Super League's bottom club, who are still six points behind the Reds.

Celtic Crusaders coach John Dixon:

"I talked with the team to play composed rugby and what impressed me most in the game was the scoreline early on and that they came back. A score of 25-12 rang pretty good for me today.

"Salford scored one early and then another through a mix-up in the backs but, in pretty tough conditions, I thought that was pretty good.

"I was excited about our ruck today. I think our forwards were really good in attack and defence, and it was nice to have some half-backs to share a bit of footy between them.

"Week in and week out, there are traits of this side that won't go away. Sometimes the ball won't bounce in the right way and I've been proud of this team from week one. I was glad for the supporters who come here every week."

Salford boss Shaun McRae:

"We spoke about it (the problems facing the Crusaders) during the week that, with inquiries and all sorts of allegations, one way to respond is to get the result right, to go out and play.

"I thought they did that well and handled the conditions better than us other than the opening exchanges when we led 12-0.

"To a certain extent, our guys thought we could just ease off a fraction, and it was that which caused the turnaround."

Celtic Crusaders: Quinn, Dyer, Chalk, Dalle Cort, Van Dijk, Blackwood, Smith, O'Hara, Withers, Bryant, J. James, Chan, Lupton.
Replacements: Budworth, Peek, Beasley, Lennon.

Salford: Wilshere, McGilvray, Littler, Ratchford, Henry, Smith, Myler, Swain, Cashmere, Alker, Stapleton, Adamson, Sidlow.
Replacements: Paul, Walton, Leuluai, Jewitt.

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