Salford City Reds 34 v 12 Wakefield Wildcats

Stefan Ratchford crossed for a hat-trick of tries as Salford City Reds swept to a comfortable victory over Wakefield Trinity Wildcats.

The Reds ran in seven tries and the winning margin would have been more comfortable had they not missed four goal attempts.

Salford, whose new Aussie coach Matthew Parish does not arrive until mid-July, had won only one of their last five Engage Super League matches but had achieved a 32-6 victory at Wakefield in the third match of the season.

The Reds recalled hooker Wayne Godwin after a two-match absence with a shoulder problem, while Wakefield handed debuts to ex-Batley stand-off Gareth Moore and new Australian forward Jarrad Hickey - both of whom had the consolation of being on the scoresheet.

The Cats also welcomed back Matt Blaymire, Julien Rinaldi and Josh Griffin, with Dale Morton and Stuart Howarth injured.

Josh Veivers and Paul King were missing through illness as Wakefield looked to send the Reds sliding to a fourth successive home defeat and the Wildcats made a flying start with a try from Tommy Lee after only two minutes.

Lee dummied and went round Matty Smith to score in the corner with Moore notching his first Super League points with a touchline conversion.

But a mistake from Frankie Mariano gave Salford the chance to reply almost immediately with Daniel Holdsworth collecting his rebound off Greg Johnson to cross too far out for the Reds skipper to convert.

It was an end-to-end start with both defences having to make desperate clearances.

Salford sneaked ahead 8-6 after Holdsworth's 40-20 gave them the initiative for Matty Smith and Luke Patten to combine for Ratchford to force his way over for his first try.

Griffin saved a try with a soaring leap to collect Holdsworth's kick but a Rinaldi fumble led to the Reds third try with Ratchford side-stepping over from Patten's pass.

Wakefield's right-hand side was exposed again after 26 minutes with Vinnie Anderson's pass allowing Jodie Broughton to grab his first Super League try since April 16.

Ratchford took over the kicking after three Holdsworth misses but fared no better.

Wakefield had a couple of let-offs too with referee James Child correctly disallowing an Iafeta Paleaaesina try for a forward pass from Smith before ruling out a Broughton effort for a similar offence.

Then Broughton squandered a chance after a storming break from his own line, throwing a poor pass to Sean Gleeson.

The Reds should have led by more than 16-6 at the break but did not take long to extend their advantage after it with Lee Jewitt powering over from Holdsworth's pass.

To ironic cheers from the Reds fans Holdsworth landed the conversion.

Ratchford went over for his treble on the hour after smart inter-passing from Holdsworth, Smith and Patten to extend the lead to 28-6.

Hickey marked his debut with a try after 66 minutes converted by Moore, before Luke Adamson brushed off Lee on a charging run to the line.

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