Salford Red Devils survive late scare to take a dramatic 16-14 victory against the Catalan Dragons

Salford Red Devils held on for a dramatic 16-14 victory against Catalans Dragons to move level on points with the French side and strengthen their position inside the Super League play-off places.

Paul Rowley’s side, who defied the odds to go within 80 minutes of last year’s Grand Final, are firmly inside the top six once again as this year’s competition approaches the halfway stage.

They recorded their sixth win in 10 games with victory against a Catalans side who came desperately close to forcing golden point extra-time, after Adam Keighran’s try in the final minute of the match reduced Salford’s lead to just two points.

Keighran, however, missed the conversion that would have levelled the scores, allowing Salford to claim the two competition points which their performance over the 80 minutes certainly merited.

The hosts broke the deadlock after 10 minutes when King Vuniyayawa crashed over from close range, allowing Marc Sneyd a simple conversion from in front to make it 6-0.

Paul Rowley’s Salford Red Devils managed to hold on to take a win against the Catalan Dragons

Sneyd then extended that lead further with a penalty, but he dropped the resulting kick-off to allow Catalans an opportunity to score their first points of the afternoon.

They duly obliged when a set move direct from the scrum gave England winger Tom Johnstone enough room to finish in the corner and claim his 11th try of the season.

Keighran was off-target with the conversion though, meaning Catalans still trailed by four, before the hosts struck a telling blow a minute before half-time.

Salford reacted fastest to a tap restart and Joe Burgess broke from deep to race 80 metres and touch down under the posts despite a commendable chase to the line from Johnstone. Sneyd converted to make it 14-4, before adding another penalty shortly after the restart to open up a 12-point gap.

Adam Keighran missed a late conversion that would have levelled the scores late in the game

However, three minutes later Arthur Mourgue’s kick found its way to Paul Seguier, who grounded before Keighran converted to narrow the Red Devils’ lead to just six going into the final quarter.

Catalans were visibly off-colour for much of the contest to that point, but that Keighran try shifted the momentum in their favour and they had chance after chance in the final minutes to score the try that would potentially level the scores.

And, just as it seemed as though Salford would hold them out with some spirited defending, Keighran punctured the line with less than a minute left on the clock – but he pushed his conversion wide to the delight of the Salford supporters.