Chris Sandow scored an incredible drop goal in the last second as
Warrington came from 18 points down to steal victory at
Salford.
Sandow scores stunning drop goal
Chris Sandow drop goal snatches victory for Warrington at Salford
Warrington staged a tremendous fightback from 18 points down to snatch a 31-30 victory over Salford in a thriller at the
AJ Bell Stadium.
The Wolves were staring at a first defeat of the season when their former player
Gareth O'Brien kicked Salford into an
18-point lead after 49 minutes.
But centre
Ryan Atkins scored two tries in four minutes to give the visitors renewed hope and after
Ashton Sims' fifth try enabled them to draw level, scrum-half Chris Sandow landed a drop goal as the hooter sounded to break Salford's hearts for the second successive week.
Warrington, who were without
Kurt Gidley and
Daryl Clark, went into the game with the best defensive record after three rounds but they looked fragile from the start, with centre
Junior Sa'u effortlessly slicing through their line for the opening try after just two minutes.
The Red Devils took full advantage of three penalties awarded to them in the first four minutes to pile on the pressure, but it was the
Wolves' turn to make possession count when referee
Robert Hicks evened up the penalty count as they hit the lead with two tries in three minutes.
Stand-off
Stefan Ratchford, making his first appearance of the season after recovering from knee surgery, drew two defenders to get
Jack Hughes over for his first try for the club before his second row partner
Ben Currie went in for a solo score.
Sandow added both conversions to make it 12-6 but it merely energised Salford, who dominated the rest of the first half to run in 22 unanswered points.
Second rower
Josh Jones was the first man to reach
Michael Dobson's grubber kick on 16 minutes and
O'Brien kicked his first goal to level the scores.
Jones' break then created the position for winger
Greg Johnson to force his way over and O'Brien's
40-20 kick set up the position for Sa'u to score his second try as he plucked
Dobson's kick out of the air.
O'Brien could hardly put a foot wrong and it was his pass that got centre
Josh Griffin racing away for Salford's fifth seven minutes before the break as the home side left to a standing ovation.
Defences tightened up as rain began to make life difficult for both teams and the only score in the third quarter was a penalty to O'Brien.
Spaces began to re-appear after both sides were reduced to
12 men for a spell after
Currie and Salford winger
Justin Carney were yellow-carded and Warrington pulled a try back through Atkins on the hour.
When Atkins followed up Sandow's grubber kick to score a second on 63 minutes, the gap was down to just six points. It was all square two minutes later when skipper
Chris Hill made a half-break and offloaded for his fellow front-rower
Sims to touch down.
Sandow's fifth goal made it 30-30 but Salford had the best chances to win it with Dobson and
Robert Lui both failing with drop-goal attempts before Warrington had the final say.
Sandow was off target with a long-range penalty attempt a minute from the end but he just had enough time to slot over a drop goal from similar range to land the crucial blow.
Chris Sandow
Scores Stunning
Drop Goal -
Salford Red Devils Vs
Warrington Wolves 2016
Salford Red Devils Vs Warrington Wolves 2016
- published: 04 Mar 2016
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