Salford City Reds 26 Warrington Wolves 34

10:26pm Friday 14th September 2007

IT is somewhat ironic that a season that started with great promise at the JJB Stadium should end in such disappointment because of events at the same stadium.

Wolves clinched a highly impressive 18-10 win at Wigan on the opening weekend of the season and there was genuine belief that the club was ready to take the next step towards the top.

Seven months and a mountain of injuries later, Wolves' win at Salford on Friday was rendered academic as Wigan defeated minor premiers St Helens at the JJB to deny Paul Cullen's side even a play-off spot for the first time since 2004.

Wolves showed on that opening night that, when they had everyone fit and available, they were better than Wigan and possibly others who would eventually finish above them in the table.

Crusaders of moral justice could argue that Wolves would still have made the play-offs had the RFL's legal loophole not allowed Wigan to keep their points deduction down to four points, successfully arguing that the doubling of salary cap penalties planned for 2007 was not valid until 2008.

Wolves, who also had reason to feel aggrieved last year when salary cap flouters Bradford knocked them out of the play-offs, did not realise in July how crucial that Wigan verdict would turn out to be.

But in reality, even though Wolves collected the same amount of points as they did last year when they finished sixth, they did not win enough games to guarantee their own play-off spot.

Much of that was down to a crippling injury list but defeats at home to Harlequins and then away at Catalans when Wolves had more experience on the field also proved costly.

For all that, Wolves showed great determination to end their season with victory at Salford despite being without nine players.

Steve Pickersgill was the latest to pull out with a rib injury and the reshuffle meant Lee Mitchell made his full debut with fellow Academy second rower Matty Blythe coming off the bench for the last few minutes for his first-team debut.

Mitchell produced his most impressive performance yet, scoring his first senior try and proving a hard man to stop throughout the night.

Vinnie Anderson and Simon Grix joined others in playing through their injury worries - even if Anderson could only last 35 minutes because of his back problem.

Wolves, who have won all four matches against relegated Salford in 2007, did their job by winning comfortably, even if former winger Richie Barnett briefly threatened to come back and haunt them with two first-half tries.

As the match was brought to an end by referee Ben Thaler - leaving the official time keepers puzzled because a minute was still left on the clock and the hooter had not been sounded - Wolves looked anxiously for news from the JJB.

They did not get the news they wanted but that was only typical of the luck they have endured all season.

And the news did not stop the travelling masses, possibly outnumbering Salford fans in their own stadium, giving Wolves an appreciate send-off.

They know as well as anyone how tough 2007 has been.

Match facts.

Salford City Reds 26 Warrington Wolves 34.

City Reds: Tom Saxton; David Hodgson, Kevin McGuinness (2t), Stuart Littler, Richie Barnett (2t); John Wilshere (3g), Stefan Ratchford; Michael Korkidas, Malcolm Alker, Stephen Nash, Andrew Brocklehurst, Simon Finnigan, Jordan Turner (1t). Subs used: Paul Highton, Luke Adamson, Luke Dorn, David Gower.

Wolves: Brent Grose; Chris Riley, Martin Gleeson, Henry Fa'afili (1t), Kevin Penny; Chris Bridge (1t), Lee Briers (5g); Paul Rauhihi (1t), Jon Clarke, Chris Leikvoll, Ben Westwood (2t), Lee Mitchell (1t), Vinnie Anderson. Subs used: Andy Bracek, Ben Harrison, Simon Grix, Matty Blythe.

Referee: Ben Thaler.

Scoring: Fa'afili charges over from Briers' cut-out pass, 2mins, 0-4; Saxton's break is stopped by Penny and Bridge but seconds later Hodgson puts Barnett over in the corner, 14mins, 4-4; Bridge steps inside Turner to score, 21mins, Briers converts, 4-10; Turner darts past Mitchell? direct from a scrum, 24mins, Wilshere converts, 10-10; Briers collects his own dink over the top before Westwood exchanges passes with Martin Gleeson to finish a fine move, 29mins, 10-14; Barnett leaps to collect Ratchford's chip and touch down, 35mins, Wilshere converts, 16-14; Mitchell powers over after Clarke and Bridge had sent the ball to the left, 38mins, Briers converts, 16-20; Bridge's sensational 60m dart puts Wolves on the offensive and Briers' pass allows Westwood to sell Barnett a dummy and score, 50mins, Briers converts, 16-26; Briers lands 20m penalty after Korkidas' high tackle on Rauhihi, 60mins, 16-28; Bridge puts Rauhihi through a gap, 65mins, Briers converts, 16-34; McGuinness receives Dorn's pass and steps inside to score, 78mins, Wilshere converts, 22-34; Wilshere's kick from a scrum puts McGuinness in, 80+mins, 26-34.

Pens: City Reds 5 Wolves 7.

Scrums: City Reds 6 Wolves 7.

Attendance: 5,152.

Warrington Guardian top men: Mitchell 3pts, Bridge 2pts, Westwood 1pt.

Interesting note: Wolves scored more points away from home than any other Super League side this season - notching 352 points in 13 matches.