French trek ends in defeat for Salford

McRae's men were forced to travel to Perpignan by coach and ferry after their flight plans were thrown into disarray by the volcanic ash that closed airports across northern Europe and they did not arrive at their hotel until in the early hours of Sunday.

Salford also had to contend with temperatures of around 30 degrees and, after trailing only 10-8 at half-time, collapsed in the second half to lose their fourth-round tie 30-8.

"It wasn't ideal but it was important that we respected the history of the Challenge Cup," said McRae. "We wanted to play the game and we made every effort to go and compete.

"The odds were very much against us but we didn't look for excuses before the event. We didn't talk about it but ultimately the trip and the hot weather took its toll.

"The effort was fantastic, I'm very proud of the way the players handled it. It's unfortunate that we bow out of the Cup but I dare say anybody would have done that had they had to put up with what we had to put up."

Centre Martin Ainscough scored a hat-trick of tries as Blackpool turned an 18-6 half-time deficit into a 24-18 victory over Championship club Whitehaven.

Tries from Dexter Miller, Tom Phillip and Carl Rudd, who kicked all three conversions, looked to have put the Cumbrians in control but Ainscough touched down twice to complete his hat-trick.

John Leather and Martin Keavney also scored second-half tries for the home side and Leather kicked two goals.

Leigh beat Limoux 32-20 to make their arduous trek to the south of France worthwhile.