Reds halt losing run to leave Wakefield in peril
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Your support makes all the difference.Salford ended a run of four consecutive defeats with a 26-15 victory which put Wakefield Trinity further into relegation trouble.
However, Wakefield, who have now lost 11 successive matches, put on an improved display and were level at 16-16 for an hour until Salford stepped up the tempo.
Salford raced into an early 10-0 lead after only nine minutes. Bobbie Goulding, facing his old club, sent Jason Nicol over with Graham Holroyd adding on the goal.
Then Martin Offiah intercepted Jamie Field's pass and sprinted 80 yards to score. But Trinity pulled back to 10-6 in the 27th minute when David March touched down from Ryan Hudson's break with Dane Dorahy adding the goal. A solo effort from Michael Hancock gave Salford a 16-6 half-time lead.
Wakefield came back strongly in the second half, scoring two tries through Hudson and Field, with substitute Graham Law adding the conversion.
Salford reacted well, though, with Goulding kicking a dropped goal before Holroyd and Hancock combined for Stuart Littler to cross with Holroyd converting. Malcolm Alker chipped in with a drop before Steve Blakeley added a late penalty.
The new Warrington coach Steve Anderson looks set to be disappointed in his attempts to keep the veteran loose-forward Tawera Nikau at Wilderspool.
Anderson was unveiled as Darryl Van de Velde's successor at the crisis-ridden Super League club on Saturday, before watching them record an unexpected 18-14 victory over leaders Bradford.
After taking charge at a club who have been hit by a drugs scandal, the loss of the key men Allan Langer and Kevin Walters, plus Van de Velde, as well as the death of Nikau's wife in mid-season, Anderson had hardly inherited the most stable of situations.
Anderson, in his first front-line coaching job, also knows that Warrington have only seven players under contract for the start of next season, and he confirmed that he would try to persuade Nikau to stay.
However, the former Kiwi international Nikau confirmed after the game that it was his intention to return to New Zealand. "I don't intend going back to Australia," he said, "and if Warrington twist my arm you never know what might happen, but New Zealand looks the most likely option just now."
As well as trying to recruit a new squad for next term, Anderson will also be looking at retaining Paul Darbyshire, who received much of the credit for Saturday's success.
Newcastle Knights' winger Darren Albert has become the second Australian to make the move to St Helens. The Saints, who have already secured the services of prop Darren Britt, have signed the 25-year-old Albert on a two-year contract with an extra year's option.
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