Taylor shines as Catalans beat Salford

Salford coach Ian Watson admitted fundamental errors were largely responsible for his side crashing to their first home defeat by Catalans Dragons in five years after a 26-12 loss.

Salford were never in front with the Dragons grabbing two tries from makeshift centre Dave Taylor and others from Tony Gigot and Eloi Pelissier. Pat Richards also kicked five goals.

Salford replied with two touchdowns by Greg Johnson in the second half after a Josh Griffin effort. Gareth O'Brien failed with all three goal attempts.

The Dragons fully deserved their third win of the season after triumphs at Wakefield and Huddersfield.

Watson, who lost Johnson and Tommy Lee with knee injuries, said: "We made a lot of fundamental errors and there were a lot of silly things out there.

"If we had completed our sets we could easily have won that game," he added.

"We missed the jump on certain things and our organisation wasn't great. We did not get the opportunity to get to the right points and play the right system. We fell off what we have been doing," admitted the Salford coach.

"We conceded a couple of soft tries and that's a concentration thing."

Catalan coach Laurent Frayssinous saluted former South Sydney and Queensland forward forward Taylor who switched to centre after 10 minutes of the game when Justin Horo limped off with a hamstring problem.

"David was excellent and is a very good player with the ball as well as in defence," said the Catalans coach.

He also praised his team for continuing their good play which had earned them victory last time out against Huddersfield.

"Eloi Pelissier, Greg Mounis and Remi Casty carried off from where they left off at Huddersfield five days ago," he said.

The Catalans coach was also happy with a performance which showed how his team have adapted to playing on the road.

"Our attitude and commitment were very good and it seems we have now found a way to win away from home," he said.