WIDNES wilted under an avalanche of Salford tries as they went down 36-8 at the A J Bell Stadium.

A jaded looking Vikings outfit just about managed to stay in the match in the first 40 minutes but fell away badly after the break as the Red Devils opened up.

Vikings coach Denis Betts took the unusual step of selecting six running forwards in his initial team selection in addition to dummy-half Aaron Heremaia with Joe Mellor effectively operating as a lone half-back.

It wasn't noticeably effective as Salford opened brightly.

A chip into the Vikings in-goal was pounced on by Red Devils winger Ben Jones-Bishop with Josh Griffin converting from wide out to give his side a 6-0 lead on three minutes.

Paddy Flynn was stopped just short by a Kevin Locke tackle as Widnes launched their first assault on the opposition line.

Salford appeared unfazed as they went up the other end where second row Weller Hauraki touched down a Michael Dobson grubber-kick to double the lead.

The Vikings were struggling to find the killer touch within sight of the Salford line and were caught on the hop by a Chase break which finished with Stefan Marsh being sin-binned for holding down Dobson on the Widnes line.

From the next play Chase found left winger Greg Johsnon with a long pass allowing him to increase the lead to 16-0 on 31 minutes.

Despite being down to 12 men, Widnes hit back three minutes later when Rhys Hanbury's fine cut-out pass found Flynn in space and he cut inside fullback Locke to finish powerfully and improve the angle sufficiently to make Jack Owens' conversion a formality.

The Vikings may have settled for 16-6 at the break but picked up the bonus of an Owens penalty goal after the Red Devils were penalised for a late hit on Heremaia.

The start of the second half looked a bit like the onset of the first.

Salford had a Mason Caton-Brown try disallowed on the resumption for a knock-on but Widnes turned their next possession over in their own half and Chase sent prop Lama Tasi through a yawning gap to score by the posts.

On 52 minutes Josh Griffin forced his way over from close range to make it 26-8.

Salford were now rampant and increased their lead still further when hard-running second row Cory Paterson forced his way in after collecting a Dobson cross-kick.

Widnes made their first break of the second half on 63 minutes when the ever-willing Flynn broke through but he pulled up lame and had to leave the field. It was that kind of night for the Vikings.

A Scott Taylor try for the home side 14 minutes from time completed the scoring and Widnes's misery.

Salford: Locke; Jones-Bishop, Caton-Brown, J Griffin, Johnson; Chase, Dobson; Morley, Lee, Taylor, Paterson Hauraki, Hansen. Subs: D Griffin, Tasi, Hood, Forster.

Widnes: Hanbury; Flynn, Marsh, Phelps, Owens; Heremaia, Mellor; Dudson, O'Carroll, Gerrard, Clarkson, Dean, Leuluai. Subs: Gore, Joseph, Manuokafoa, Kavanagh.

Referee: B Thaler