The University of Salford took the bragging rights in the local derby against Manchester University on Wednesday afternoon at the Armitage Centre.
Salford ran out 16-36 winners with a hattrick from Conor Mulcahy, a brace from Dan Munt and a solo effort by skipper Joe Woolley.
Manchester's three tries came through Charlie Wilson, Ollie Cotterell and Adam Heal but the visitors proved too solid for their opponents.
The away side blazed away in the first 20 minutes with three tries.
The first came from Joe Woolley, as his quick feet dodged the defensive line of Manchester and he beat the full back with a turn of pace and eased over the line to give his side an early lead.
A minute later and Dan Munt extended Salford's advantage.
Centre Will Nelson raced down the right side and offloaded the ball superbly to the supporting Munt who managed to collect and run towards the line and under the posts.
Tom Johnson made it two from two with the converted kick and Salford went 0-12 up with ten minutes on the clock.
Salford's dominance early on payed off again with another fantastic try, this time by Conor Mulcahy.
Congratulations to Conor Mulcahy for winning today’s man of the match! pic.twitter.com/HisGnPKBRK
— Salford Uni RL (@SalfordUniRL) November 29, 2017
A brilliant break by Josh Hill allowed the stand-off to find Mulcahy who touched down to stretch his side's lead with Johnson adding the extras to make it 0-18.
There was then more pressure for Manchester to deal with, as Salford attacked straight away after the home side kicked down field.
A poor kick resulted in Munt picking the ball up and bulldozing his way past the approaching defenders to race away and score a 60-metre try.
The two points by Johnson's kick made it 0-24 with just half an hour played.
Salford Coach Alex Davidson revealed after the game: "We wanted to drill them early as we know our forwards are big.
"We knew we could dominate them early on and the tries are the joy off the back off that!"
This what it means to the lads to beat our rivals! @TeamSalford pic.twitter.com/4UwpjHcotJ
— Salford Uni RL (@SalfordUniRL) November 29, 2017
However, Manchester eventually managed to produce some attacking play, as they had possession on the Salford line from a penalty given by referee Mike Delooze.
The hosts took their chance, as Charlie Wilson's silky footwork and ability to get away from three Salford men allowed him to find a gap and touch down over the whitewash.
Soon after, Ollie Cotterell cleverly found a gap on the right edge and he darted his way over to bring Manchester back into the contest.
Winger and kicker Oli Hobin missed the kick but there was only a 14-point difference between the two sides with two minutes remaining of the first half.
Despite Manchester finishing the first 40 well, Salford kept their rivals out and extended their points tally just after the hour mark through Mulcahy. The visitors piled on the pressure and Josh Hill, again the provider, gave a quick-fire pass to Mulcahy to go over.
Mulcahy got his third try of the day with three minutes to go, as he beat the Manchester men in defence and strolled over to complete a perfect man of the match performance.
Johnson made it six from six with the conversion, as Salford went 10-36 up.
Salford prop Hasan Sadrazam said: "With a few interchanges we dropped off slightly and the structure didn't turn out as well as we thought but once the boys got back into the rhythm of the game we showed what we are made of."
There was some cansolation for Manchester late on as Heal powered his way past the Salford line and touched down. Hobin added the two points but the final score ended 16-36.
Joe Woolley, admitted after the game: "It was the best win we've had all season and I couldn’t be prouder of the lads!"
Coach Davidson added: "It was awesome, as beating Manchester is the best thing you can do as a Salford player. We scored some excellent tries today and the desire of the boys showed, especially in defence."
That win sees Salford move to the top of the BUCS Northern 2A University League, while Manchester drop down to fourth place.
Elsewhere in the league, UCLAN beat Chester 54-14 at the UCLAN Sports Arena and they move up to third on points difference.
To support the the Stonewall campaign, every Salford player wore rainbow laces on their boots in the match.
The emphasis on the rainbow colours was incorporated by the inclusive charity on their belief of a fair and equal society where all LGBT people can achieve their full potential.
Salford captain Joe Woolley said: "I think it’s great! It's something that needs to be widespread not just in sport but throughout the whole country and across the world.
"Sport is so much about togetherness and we really want to channel that into the LGBT community."
Featured image credit: @SalfordUniRL
