Willie Poching pleased with Salford courage and bravery in Widnes win

Salford assistant coach Willie Poching said he was pleased to see the team smiling after a couple of frustrating weeks.

The Red Devils beat Widnes Vikings 26-12 at the AJ Bell Stadium on Thursday night.

Salford had lost their previous six matches prior the game but the win sees them just one point behind eighth-placed Huddersfield.

Poching admitted that he is happy to see the team confident again.

He said: ‘It was a good performance and one that was worthy of the two points.

“I’m pleased that the guys got some reward because there have been times this year when we have performed well but not got the reward and that can be frustrating.

“The performance was really courageous and it was the bravery and the way we went about our work which was pleasing. It wasn’t all going smoothly for us, we lost a couple of guys early on and our bench was down to two players for most of the evening.

“It’s been tough lately on the lads with the situation that the club is in, but the lads just kept fighting and the most pleasing thing was seeing them happy and singing the song and getting some rewards.”

Greg Burke made his debut for Salford after recently joining on loan from Widnes. The front-rower even scored a try to help collect the two points for the Red Devils.

Poching was full of praise for Burke as well as Logan Tomkins and Lama Tasi.

He added: “Greg was really good, he was really energetic and carried strong.

“He has won a lot of respect already from his peers and that is a big thing for Greg going forward. I was fortunate enough to work with him in the past at Hull KR, so I knew some of the qualities that he had and what he was going to bring as far as his football talent goes.

“He pushed through the pain barrier and probably played more minutes than he has done all season and he will be better for it going forward.

“I’ve got to give massive raps to Logan Tomkins and Lama Tasi who put in some big stints along with some of the other middles. When I talk of courage and bravery, I think they epitomised a lot of what we are about.”

Tyrone McCarthy’s hamstring injury will be assessed further in the coming days.