Salford City Reds 22 Leeds Rhinos 31: 'Disjointed' Rhinos stumble to success against lowly Salford

The Rhinos had to overcome a 12-4 deficit early in the second half to leapfrog Hull but it was a far-from convincing display by the champions.

Leeds skipper Kevin Sinfield finished with 15 points from a try, five goals and a drop goal while England winger Ryan Hall notched two of the Rhinos' five tries to take his tally to 23.

Although missing Keith Senior for the first time this term, New Zealander Brent Webb returned after a five-match absence for Rhinos but Rob Burrow, Jamie Peacock, Matt Diskin, Greg Eastwood and Kallum Watkins were all out.

The Reds swept in front with Matty Smith's towering kick causing chaos in the Rhinos defence and Malcolm Alker fed Broughton to go over in the corner for his fourth try in three matches. But Leeds levelled when Adam Sidlow's wild pass was snapped up by Danny McGuire, who turned provider for Ian Kirke to go score only his second league try of the season.

Sinfield missed the straightforward conversion before Gibson showed tremendous strength to force his way over in the corner from Alker's pass.

Steve Tyrer tagged on the touchline conversion to make it 10-4 after 17 minutes before the Reds had a Sidlow touchdown disallowed for a forward pass from Smith.

A Tyrer penalty stretched the advantage to 12-4 with Leeds centre Brett Delaney having a try disallowed for a double movement.

Leeds piled on the pressure but McGuire threw away a glorious chance when he spilled an Ali Lauitiiti pass with the line open.

Then Lautiiti produced a touch of class to release the ball under pressure and give Hall a walk-in try after 53 minutes with Sinfield landing the conversion.

Leeds went in front for the first time when Alker tried to intercept Jamie Jones-Buchanan's lobbed pass and left a huge gap for Sinfield to waltz through, with his conversion making it 16-12.

Sinfield's penalty for a high tackle on Carl Ablett edged the Rhinos further ahead.

Salford's hopes of victory looked to be dashed when Delaney shrugged off Mark Henry and sent Scott Donald scooting away for a long-range try with another Sinfield touchline conversion making it 24-12.

But Alker recovered from a heavy tackle by Lauitiiti to send Ray Cashmere ploughing through Luke Burgess's tackle to notch his first try for Salford.

Tyrer's goal cut the gap to six points before Sinfield slotted over a drop goal 10 minutes from time to ease the nerves.

Hall's second try from Jones-Buchanan's long pass sealed an uninspiring win for Leeds with a Sinfield penalty completing his side's scoring.

Salford deservedly grabbed another try with Gibson adding his second in the last minute.

Leeds' boss Brian McClennan described his side's performance as "disjointed" despite sealing a top-four place.

"We need to work together and get more harmony because we have some big games coming up," he said. "It's good to be in the top four but we are searching more for enjoyment of performance and this was a step back from last week."

Salford City Reds: Fitzpatrick, Broughton, Henry, Gibson, Tyrer, Sneyd, M. Smith, Cashmere, Alker, Boyle, Littler, Sidlow, Swain. Substitutes: J. Smith, Parker, Adamson, Neal.

Leeds Rhinos: Webb, Donald, Delaney, Smith, Hall, Sinfield, McGuire, Leuluai, Buderus, Bailey, Kirke, Jones-Buchanan, Clarkson. Substitutes: Ablett, Burgess, Lauitiiti, McShane.

Referee: P Bentham (Warrington).