THE VIKINGS' quest to make mathematically certain of Super League survival was thwarted by a muscular and determined Salford Red Devils side at the Select Security Stadium.

Salford were also in need of the points to secure their top-flight status and Ian Watson's team's ultra-physical approach suggested they were the hungrier of the two outfits.

Certainly in forwards Lama Tasi, Harrison Hansen and Reni Maitua they had three men who didn't come to lose.

The game also saw Widnes skipper Kevin Brown sent off along with Salford man Josh Griffin for fighting late in the piece.

Salford opened the scoring after just two minutes when Junior Sau broke a tackle and flicked a superb pass out the back door for winger Griffin to cross at the corner.

Michael Dobson failed to add the extras but was soon on target with a penalty after he was hit late following a downfield kick.

The Vikings hit back on 13 minutes when a searing break by Rhys Hanbury saw him but Patrick Ah Van over to make it 6-4.

Widnes went close to hitting the front when Matt Whitely lost the ball over the tryline after Ah Van had collected a Kevin Brown bomb.

A knock-on at the base of the scrum by Lloyd White gifted the Red Devils field position and prop Scott Taylor took advantage to score a soft six-pointer from dummy-half.

Things got worse for the Vikings on 26 minutes when Salford substitute Cory Paterson barged over from close range with his first touch of the ball. Dobson's third goal made it 18-4.

Four minutes before the break, the visitors had Liam Hood sin-binned for a high shot on Brown.

Despite still being a man down, the Red Devils picked up the first score of the second period when Sau muscled his way over with Dobson's conversion making it 24-4.

Ah Van had a half-chance to pull a try back from a Hanbury pass but was bundled into touch five metres short of the line and Aaron Heremaia was held up as he went for glory from dummy-half.

Harrison Hansen became the second Salford player to be sent to the bin on 57 minutes for a foul on Hanbury.

This time, the Vikings did capitalise on their numerical advantage when Brown sent Lloyd White crashing in near the posts to pull six points back.

Maitua should have increased the Red Devils lead but spilled the ball in the act of scoring under pressure from Hanbury so it remained 24-10.

With ten minutes remaining a dust-up between Griffin and Brown saw both men dismissed from the field by referee Mr Child.

The game didn't improve as a spectacle with fewer men on the field; in fact if anything it degenerated.

The Vikings created a few opportunities but couldn't find the killer pass to make inroads into the deficit. Widnes: Hanbury; Flynn, Dean, Runciman, Ah Van; Brown, Mellor; Gerrard, White, Dudson, Clarkson, Whitley, Cahill. Subs: Craven, Heremaia, Tickle, Manuokafoa.

Salford: Evalds; Jones-Bishop, Thornley, Sau, J Griffin; Lee, Dobson; Taylor, Tomkins, Tasi, Hansen, Maitua, Krasniqi. Subs: A Walne, Morley, Hood, Paterson.

Half-Time: 4-18.

Referee: J Child .