Widnes Vikings thrash 12-man Salford Red Devils

Widnes Vikings have won the opening match of Super League's Magic Weekend at St James' Park with a 38-16 win over 12-man Salford Red Devils this afternoon.

The sides were closely matched in the first half, with Patrick Ah Van cancelling out an early effort from Cory Paterson for the Red Devils.

Widnes started to surge ahead as Ah Van claimed his second, before Danny Galea and Kevin Brown also crossed the line before the break.

Salford's chances of a second-half comeback were dealt a blow on the stroke of half time when Darrell Griffin, who alongside brothers Josh and George was playing just days after their father's death, was sent off for a high tackle.

Despite being a man short, tries from Greg Johnson and Ben Jones-Bishop early in the second half left Salford just 10 points adrift.

The Vikings made sure that they finished the match strongly to see out the win though, with Brown scoring a further two tries to complete his hat-trick, before Stefan Marsh sprinted over late on.