London Broncos U18s 14 Salford City Reds U18s 26

This was the Broncos side's second meeting against Salford this year, having lost to them in a pre-season friendly at Aldershot only a month previously.

However, coming off the back of an impressive first competitive match win against Wakefield and the re-introduction of Patrick Mooney and Angus Peters into the side following successful stints in the U20's, the young Broncos were confident of a reversal in fortunes.

The first 10 minutes of the game was a cagey affair, with forwards from both teams trying to expose weaknesses in each other's defensive lines.

However, the Broncos began to dominate this early period as the likes of Patrick Mooney and Jonathan Wallace made significant metres through the middle of the pitch.

This, coupled with some strong defence from Shaun Keen and the rest of the forwards ensured that the Wakefield side were pinned back in their own half. Such pressure seemed to be rewarded when slick passing from Joel Wickes put Tolu Odusanya over in the right hand corner, only for the pass to be adjudged forward and the try ruled out; the second disallowed try for the centre/winger pairing in as many games.

Only a few minutes later, however, success came in the other corner; good link up play between James Woodburn-Hall and Angus Peters was followed up by Sam Druce who drew in two defenders and fed Brandon Johnson to touch down on the wing. 4-0, conversion unsuccessful.

London Broncos continued their pressure after the try, with Sam Druce being held up just over the line. However, ill-discipline resulted in the young side giving away two consecutive penalties, gifting Salford their first period of sustained possession in the Broncos' half.

A neat attacking move from Theo Fages and Jack Holmes, 20 metres out, gave Salford their first try of the match on the 26th minute. It was duly converted, 4-6. A momentary lapse in concentration from the Broncos at the kick-off resulted in a break through the middle by Salford.

A succession of quick play-the-balls made it impossible for the defensive line to recover and Ross Pendelbury soon crashed over for Salford's second. An unsuccessful conversion made it 4-10.

Another mistake from the ensuing kick-off, this time in the form of a Salford knock-on, set the platform for the final try of the first half. A well executed attacking set from the London side culminated in a perfectly timed pass from Charlie Lawrence to Patrick Mooney, who used his strength to score despite being held by three opposing defenders. Sam Druce converted, 10-10.

The second half started in the same fashion as the first half with a war of attrition between the middle men. Salford gained the advantage however, when Theo Fages once again linked up with his fullback; Jack Holmes, who broke through the line and gave it back to the half back for a score under the posts despite the best efforts of fullback Freddie Smith.

The conversion was simple and made it 10-16. Salford doubled their lead quickly after with a try that stemmed once again from ill-discipline; a succession of penalties given against the Broncos allowed Salford to march up the pitch and eventually crash over under the posts with a strong run from Chris Hankinson. Once again, a successful conversion pushed the away side further ahead, making it 10-22.

The London Broncos side's position was worsened when influential stand-off James Woodburn-Hall was forced off with a shoulder injury and try scoring winger, Brandon Johnson, with severe cramps in both his legs.

As a result the Broncos' back line had to be completely reshuffled with forwards filling up the vacancies created. Salford were able to capitalise on these changes and an attack down the blindside from a scrum resulted in a second score for Theo Fages on the 70th minute, putting daylight between the two teams. An unsuccessful conversion left the scores at 10-26.

The London Broncos were not about to let the floodgates open however, and their resilient defence, notably a huge hit from Angus Peters, ensured that no further tries were to be scored by the Salford side who were starting to play some free flowing attacking rugby.

The final try of the match came from the Broncos on the 75th minute. Sam Druce was quick to capitalise on a knock-on from the away team in their own half, he found Kazeem Faturoti (stepping in at centre from his usual position of second row) whose slick hands sucked in two defenders and enabled Harry Little to stylishly finish off on the wing for a debut try. The conversion just drifted shy of the post, leaving the score at 14-26, which is how it was to finish.

Head coach James Massara was left frustrated after the game. "For large periods of time that was the best this group has played. Some of the defence was technically very good and Salford struggled to gain any momentum due to our intensity. It is frustrating that on the back of those efforts that we gave away back to back errors and penalty's that helped a very good Salford side back into the game.

"I hope that is the experience it takes for the lads to understand that the better sides in this competition thrive of mental errors as I thought we were in a position to take control of the game at half time"

10 -10 HT

14 - 26 FT