MATCH REPORT: MIDLANDS HURRICANES 10 - 46 SALFORD RED DEVILS - CHALLENGE CUP THIRD ROUND

Captain Callum McLelland leads the squad out of the tunnel (Credit: Andy Shaw)

Canes fight valiantly but Super League Salford prove too strong

After two convincing Cup wins over Siddal (46-0, Second Round Challenge Cup and 52-24, Whitehaven, 1895 Cup First Preliminary Round), the Canes welcomed their toughest challenge to date as they hosted Super League’s Salford Red Devils in the Third Round of the Challenge Cup.

Whilst Salford’s squad was restricted due to the RFL’s sustainability cap, their 18-man squad boasted a number of star-studded names including but not limited to Ryan Brierley, Nene Macdonald, Jayden Nikorima, Brad Singleton and Esan Marsters. With a record crowd already guaranteed before kick-off and Friday’s news of the club’s takeover finally completing, several hundred Salford fans travelled to Birmingham to join the Hurricanes faithful and witness a piece of history take place in the Midlands.

The first ten minutes of the game suggested Salford might control large parts of the game, with some sustained pressure on the Canes line finally paying off as a scrum led to Nene Macdonald strolling in for the visitors first on the nine-minute mark (0-4). Chris Hankinson, taking over from usual Salford goal-kicker Marc Sneyd, had no issues from converting out wide (0-6). The momentum then shifted to the Canes as a return drive from Matty Chrimes saw him find a gap in the Salford line and race 40-50m before being brought down. Whilst a fumbled ball prevented Midlands from taking advantage in that set, the following set saw Aiden Roden scoot from dummy-half and exploit a gap to weave and dive over the Salford line to the rapturous applause of the home crowd (4-6). Jake Sweeting matched Hankinson’s effort from out wide with a sublime conversion (6-6).

Aiden Roden leaves Ryan Brierley grasping as he dives over to score (Credit: Andy Shaw)

Buoyed by levelling the scores, the Hurricanes momentum carried on for the next five minutes as some good drives by the pack and some deft kicking forced Salford to concede a goal-line drop-out. The Hurricanes also had the opportunity to take the lead as a beautiful grubber from 10m out saw Matty Hanley beat the Salford defence to the ball and dot the ball down, however Matty’s effort was chalked off by the referee who deemed him to have bounced the ball. From the resulting seven-tackle set Salford took their chance to retake the lead as some hands from right to left found Chris Hankinson who eventually put the ball down after the Canes fell off an attempted tackle (6-10). Hankinson then went on to convert his own score from the kicking tee (6-12).

The sides then traded sets for the best part of ten minutes before some ill-discipline from Salford put the Canes in a strong attacking position. A quick pass from McLelland to Ross Oakes was anticipated well by the Salford defence, but Ryan Johnson’s scoot frum fummy-half drew in two defenders and presented him with a fantastic opportunity to offload to his former Sheffield Eagles partner in Matty Chrimes who slid over in the left-hand corner (10-12). Jake Sweeting was unable to add the extras from out wide, with his effort sailing agonisingly close but wide of the sticks.

Troubled by the prospect of effectively going in level after the first half, Salford eagerly sought a third try before half-time but some valiant defending kept the Red Devils out. Just before the hooter the Canes conceded a penalty for a late hit, which gave Chris Hankinson the opportunity to kick a penalty from just right of the sticks. Despite nailing easier conversions earlier in the game, Hankinson’s effort sailed left of the sticks and the sides went in just two points apart.

Half-time: Midlands Hurricanes 10 - 12 Salford Red Devils

Matty Chrimes celebrates getting on the scoresheet (Credit: Andy Shaw)

The second half saw Salford come out the sheds strongly and keen to show their class, and it only took a little over six minutes for the visitors to extend their lead as Chris Atkin shrugged off an attempted tackle to race through the line before passing out wide to Nene Macdonald who raced down the left edge and fended off a tackle from Matty Hanley to score (10-16). Hankinson once again added the extras from out wide and Salford suddenly had a two-score lead (10-18). Whilst the Canes managed to wrestle back possession and threaten the Salford line in the following sets, momentum quickly shifted back to the Red Devils as a grubber from Callum McLelland bounced off a Salford foot and into the grateful hands of Jayden Nikorima who ran 70 metres down the right wing to score Salford’s fourth of the afternoon (10-22). Once again, Hankinson had no issues converting the try from out wide (10-24).

Five minutes later, the Canes then found themselves on the wrong side of a referee call as a high bomb was seemingly knocked on by Esan Marsters before striking Todd Horner’s hand and bouncing back into the hands of Matty Chrimes, who raced away before the referee pulled back play and awarded Salford a scrum 10 metres out. Salford took full advantage of this opportunity as the initial play from the scrum saw the ball travel from left to right and into the hands of Deon Cross who had no trouble scoring in space (10-28). Hankinson was once again on hand to convert from out wide (10-30). Five minutes later the Red Devils scored again, as another break from Chris Atkin saw him race away before passing left to Esan Marsters who finished the play just left of the sticks (10-34). With one of his easier conversions of the afternoon in front of him, Hankinson added the extras from the kicking tee (10-36).

Zeus Silk shakes off the Salford defence (Credit: Andy Shaw)

With a little over five minutes to go, a tough second half for the Canes saw a ray of light as a loose carry and some off-the-cuff offense from Ryan Johnson, followed by a barn-storming run from Man of the Match Zeus Silk, got us within 15 metres of the Salford line. A final grubber from Johnno was unfortunately gathered up by the visitors, who took advantage of some ill-discipline to get back into the Hurricanes half. With the Canes defence tiring, some quick hands from right to left found Deon Cross who leaped into the left-hand corner to score an impressive try (10-40). In a rare blip, kicker Chris Hankinson was unable to add a seventh successive conversion from the touchline.

In the dying minutes, Salford were able to score an eighth and final try as Jayden Nikorima spotted a gap in a tiring Midlands defence and glided through to score under the sticks (10-44). With arguably his easiest conversion of the afternoon, Hankinson added the extras (10-46). The full-time hooter sounded shortly thereafter, and with that the Canes Challenge Cup journey came to an end in front of a record crowd of 985 paying fans at The Alexander Stadium. It was not, however, the end of the Canes cup experience for 2025, as an away trip to Keighley Cougars in the Second Preliminary Round of the 1895 Cup awaits Mark Dunning’s men on Sunday.

Full-time: Midlands Hurricanes 10 - 46 Salford Red Devils

Try-scorers:
Roden and Chrimes

Conversions:
Sweeting (1/2)

Man of the Match:
Zeus Silk (sponsored by This is Warrior)

Scoring Sequence:
0-4, 0-6, 4-6, 6-6, 6-10, 6-12, 10-12, 10-16, 10-18, 10-22, 10-24, 10-28, 10-30, 10-34, 10-36, 10-40, 10-44 and 10-46.