Super League: Salford Red Devils beat Wakefield Trinity 44-20 to climb to sixth

Salford Red Devils avenged their defeat at Wakefield in March as they scored eight tries to enjoy their biggest home Super League win of the season.

Full-back Niall Evalds ran in two late tries to complete a hat-trick and seal Wakefield's fifth straight defeat.

Winger Jake Bibby (2), Joey Lussick, Rob Lui and Kris Welham also crossed, while Krisnan Inu kicked six goals.

Jacob Miller and Ben Jones-Bishop both scored two tries for the visitors, who were on the back foot throughout.

Three first-half touchdowns in 12 minutes from Bibby, his second, Evalds and Lussick hit them hard.

But Trinity then enjoyed parity in the second half until Evalds' two late tries turned the final scoreline into the highest number of points Wakefield have shipped this season.

Evalds' two tries in the last six minutes also took him past a century of tries for Salford.

Victory for Wakefield, who beat Salford 33-22 at home in March, would have lifted them to fifth.

Instead, they drop to eighth, still only two points off a Top Five place, but only four points off the bottom, level on 16 points with Salford and reigning champions Wigan.

Salford, who also came into this game on the back of four straight defeats, now climb above both Trinity and Wigan, with 11 games still to go.

But they do now have a worry over a bicep injury to forward George Griffin, which will need a scan on Monday.

Salford coach Ian Watson:

"The players responded the right way after a tough month. We started the game really well and that set us up for the game.

"Robert Lui and Jackson Hastings managed the game really well for us but the platform was laid by the forwards.

"It's really interesting at the moment. The season is livening up but this was a massive game for us. The boys have refocused as a group.

"We have not really been piecing games together for the full 80 but the boys did really well. It was a decent performance which they can be proud of."

Wakefield coach Chris Chester:

"We're in a relegation fight now. That's how we're looking at it. There are teams below us playing a lot better than us. Somehow, we've got to find a win from somewhere.

"I'm fairly confident we'll be OK but we need to get that quality back out there. Our ball control's not good enough at the moment.

"We've got players low on confidence, which is having a big effect on outcomes of games. Some of our forwards were abysmal. They could not have forced their way out of a paper bag.

"The players have had a bit of a talking-to in the dressing room but collectively we have to be a lot better. Some players are not making an impact on the field."

Salford: Evalds; Bibby, Inu, Welham, Olpherts; Lui, Hastings; Mossop, Tomkins, Dudson, Jones, Griffin, McCarthy.

Interchanges: Burke, Nakubuwai, Flanagan, Lussick.

Wakefield: Hampshire; Jones-Bishop, Lyne, Croft, Kershaw; Miller, Brough; England, Wood, Kopczak, Kirmond, Pauli, Crowther.

Interchanges: Hirst, Tanginoa, King, Randell.

Referee: Marcus Griffiths (RFL).