But the manner in which they surrendered a 16-match unbeaten sequence didn't please head coach Mick Potter who labelled Friday's performance at the Willows as the poorest since he joined the club six months ago.

Worse still, they lost influential scrum half Sean Long with what was later diagnosed as a broken jaw and raises a huge question mark over whether he will recover in time for the Carnegie Challenge Cup Final, providing the holders overcome Huddersfield in next month's semi-final showdown at Warrington.

The league leaders never really recovered from super-charged Salford's electrifying opening - the hosts storming into a 16-0 lead in as many minutes and while there was an element of good fortune attached to two of their three first-half tries, victory on the night was no more than they deserved.

Saints were put under the kind of pressure they hadn't experienced most of the season, particular in the first 40 minutes, and at times they struggled to cope with the Reds' power and aggression up front.

The pressure also led to many uncharacteristic mistakes but at the same time they were also guilty of bombing at least four gilt-edge chances which could conceivably have turned the tide.

The absence of skipper Keiron Cunningham, Jon Wilkin, Leon Pryce and Matt Gidley didn't help matters but cannot be used as an excuse, and it will be a case of going back to the drawing board ahead of a tough-looking fixture at in-form Warrington Wolves on Saturday night.

Salford certainly exposed weaknesses in the Saints' pack on Friday night – going for the jugular from the start and making incessant early pressure pay handsome dividends.

Man of the match Stefan Ratchford showed presence of mind to follow up Jeremy Smith's wickedly bouncing grubber kick and beat back-pedalling full back Paul Wellens to the ball.

John Wilshere goaled to give Salford a six point lead before another piece of Lady Luck came their way four minutes later when Ratchford's hopeful long range kick rebounded off one of the posts straight into team-mate Wiltshere's hands and he was able to send the former racing in for his second try.

Wilshire goaled but couldn't add the extras to Salford's third try four minutes later – Darrell Goulding forcing his way over in the left-hand corner after Long had earlier been penalised for holding down.

But despite being under the cosh, Saints had their chances to post points - substitute Maurie Fa'asavalu, Kyle Eastmond and Ade Gardner all spilling possession when in promising positions.

They did, however, finally pierce a resolute and determined Salford defence five minutes after the interval – Long's slide rule pass sending substitute Andrew Dixon over for his first try at senior level and Kyle Eastmond landing the goal.

It signalled a spell of Saints' dominance and they could have cut the deficit further when debut boy Jamie Ellis looked odd-on to score as he attempted to latch on to an Eastmond pass, only to fumble possession with the line at his mercy.

Salford appeared to have pushed the self-destruction button when Smith was sin-binned for throwing a punch at Wellens but despite only having 12-man they increased their lead after 59 minutes.

Gardner failed to deal with Ratchford's awkward grubber kick and Mark Henry pounced to score, even though judging from the reaction of the Saints' fans at that end of the ground there were question marks over whether the ball had been grounded properly.

Long's 65th withdrawal didn't help the visitors' cause but they had the final say when Meil crashed over in the left-hand corner following a delicate kick from Ellis.

Teams – Salford: Wilshere, Henry, Littler, Goulding, McGilvray, Smith, Ratchford, Cashmere, Alker, Stapleton, Adamson, Sidlow, Swain.
Subs: Leulai, Jewitt, Walton, Paul (all used).
Saints: Wellens Gardner, Flannery, Dean, Meli, Eastmond, Long, Graham, Roby, Hargreaves, Ashurst, Puletua, Gilmour.
Subs: Fa'asavalu, Ellis, Dixon, Clough (all used)
Referee: J. Child.
Attendance: 4,808.