Salford Red Devils 14 Leeds Rhinos 16

Two penalty goals from Rhyse Martin ensured that Leeds Rhinos kept their winning run in the Betfred Super League alive as they downed Salford Red Devils 16-14 in round 18.

Ash Handley and Cameron Smith scored the tries for the Rhinos, who took an eight point lead into the break only for the Red Devils to retaliate earlier in the second half.

Blake Austin missed out on the game as he served his one match suspension and with Jack Sinfield in action for England Academy the day before, Rohan Smith brought Corey Johnson into the halves to partner Aidan Sezer. Luis Roberts was the only new face to the side that beat Warrington the week before as the remainder of the squad was unchanged.

Inside the first ten minutes, the Rhinos took the lead through Cameron Smith as the loose forward got his sixth try of the season. Salford had started the game brightly but after Sam Walters, Nene Macdonald and Mikolaj Oledzki bulldozed the Rhinos into position, Smith's arching run put him passed Alex Gerrard and through a hole between Oli Partington and Brodie Croft.

Inspired by the returning Croft, Ackers and Brierley, the Red Devils almost responded immediately when Brierley looked set to score in the corner, but good defence from Handley and Martin forced the full back out of play. World Cup finalist Tim Lafai was also lively with his usual offload game, but more good defence kept the centre at bay until 19 minutes, when he latched onto Croft's kick in behind to score for the home side.

Sneyd was left to rue his missed conversion attempt at full time as Leeds added their second through a good passage of play. As with meetings between the two sides previous years, they were going blow for blow as the half wore on but a knock on from Sneyd was inviting for the away side to build pressure. Aidan Sezer and Richie Myler, who proved lethal in the win over Huddersfield a fortnight ago, connected in style as Leeds closed in on the try line; Myler's final pass cutting out Rhyse Martin for Handley to stroll in the corner untouched. Martin couldn't convert but as half time approached, an accidental offside from Salford saw the Leeds man kick a penalty goal to make the score 12-4 at the break.

An exciting second half saw the lead change hands twice and both sides play with twelve players in a nail-biting 40 minutes.

Paul Rowley's side were instantly on the front foot as Lafai was the benefactory of quick hands from Croft and Ackers in the build up, before the reigning man of steel dropped another deft kick in behind the Leeds defence for Lafai to touch down. 

Six minutes later, mis-communication between Myler and Handley saw Ken Sio benefit as the winger rose above both Leeds players to make the score 14-12; Brierley kicking one of the two conversions as he took over from the injured Sneyd.

Tempers began to flair as the Rhinos tried to force themselves back into the lead. Straight after conceding, Rohan Smith's side were camped on the Red Devils try line before Smith fumbled the ball to turn possession over. Emotions boiled over soon after as Oledzki and Chris Atkin were shown yellow cards for fighting as both teams went down to twelve players.

The boot of Martin cooled the away side down as he slotted his second penalty goal of the afternoon, after Smith was taken out late by a Salford defender, to level to score. The PNG international added a third goal four minutes later as the Red Devils were penalised for a drop out going over the sidelines on the full; Martin closing his personal career tally to within four points of 1,000 with a lifeline kick for the Rhinos in front of the posts.

Salford battled hard in the final minutes, but Myler looked to have delivered the final blow against his former club as he took a good pass from Smith to dive over, but the referee brought the play back for an obstruction against James McDonnell. Mercifully, the final whistle sounded to move the Rhinos to within two points of the Red Devils, and the top six, in the league table.