McGuire sets the tone as Leeds overwhelm Salford

Leeds 54 Salford 14

Mark Calderwood again underlined his exceptional finishing prowess with his eighth Leeds hat-trick as he took his seasonal tally to 26 tries and his club record to 97 tries in 133 games.

"I thought we were outstanding tonight," said Tony Smith, the Leeds coach. "We dealt with the things that were thrown at us, were very tough and finished strongly."

Rob Burrow, who also kicked seven goals, and the outstanding Richard Mathers each scored a brace of tries.

Danny McGuire set the tone for a commanding first-half display, with an outstanding 60-metre finish from Mathers' offload, while Andrew Dunemann and Willie Poching were the other Leeds try scorers.

After scoring three early tries, Leeds had the game wrapped up inside the opening quarter-hour as Salford faced up to an evening of damage limitation. Though two successive home wins had left the visitors breathing far more easily in the relegation dog-fight, they never looked like ending a dismal record against Leeds.

With hooker Matt Diskin making an impressive first start since the grand final after injury and veteran Francis Cummins given his first game of the campaign, Leeds made light of Kevin Sinfield's absence as they built a commanding 42-0 interval lead.

After their insipid first-half display, Salford roused themselves to boss the third quarter and post three tries - two by Stuart Littler sandwiching a Tim Hartley effort that climaxed a fine four-man move as Luke Robinson and Karl Fitzpatrick finally got some running opportunities before Leeds finished back in control.

Leeds: Mathers; Calderwood, C Walker, Senior, Bai; McGuire, Burrow; Lauitiiti, Diskin, McDermott, McKenna, Jones-Buchanan, Ellis. Substitutes used: Dunemann, Poching, Scruton, Cummins.

Salford: Fitzpatrick; Hodgson, Littler, Sibbit, Smith; Beverley, Robinson; Rutgerson, Alker, Highton, McAvoy, Shipway, Charles. Substitutes used: Haggerty, Coley, Baldwin, Hartley.

Referee: K Kirkpatrick (Warrington).