Castleford bounced back from two defeats by grinding out a hard-earned win over relegation-threatened Salford.

Two tries in the last 13 minutes from loose-forward Ryan Hudson and winger Jon Wells, with his second, finally killed off the Reds who battled well in their first match under new head coach Karl Harrison.

Scrum-half Graham Holroyd got their only point with a first-half penalty goal as they slipped to their ninth successive defeat.

Wayne Bartrim put Castleford ahead with a 14th-minute penalty goal after Salford were penalised for holding down Waine Pryce in a tackle.

The Tigers got the opening try two minutes later when captain Danny Orr superbly made the opening for Bartrim to go in and the Aussie hooker added his second goal.

Salford fell further behind in the 23rd minute when their full-back Gary Broadbent failed to deal with Mitch Healey's kick to the corner and Wells pounced for his first touchdown.

The Tigers were forced to drop out from under their own posts three times as Salford tried hard to get back into the match.

The Reds spurned two penalty goal attempts by running the ball but were unable to crack Castleford's solid defence.

Wells rescued the Tigers by knocking the ball dead when Salford's Stuart Littler was set to pounce on Holroyd's kick.

Salford finally opened their account with Holroyd's penalty after Lee Harland was penalised for impeding Malcolm Alker.

The Reds had a big let-off shortly before half-time when Alan Hunte made a hash of trying to collect Orr's kick behind his own line but Michael Eagar missed a simple chance to grab a touchdown.

Salford's hopes of gaining revenge for their 74-16 home defeat against Castleford earlier this season faded early in the second half.

Eagar made amends for his earlier miss by finishing a move involving Bartrim, Harland and Orr.

Salford went close when Michael Wainwright put in a kick to the corner but Castleford's Michael Smith narrowly beat Hunte to the ball.

Salford were again out of luck in the 66th minute when second-rower Jason Nicol had a touchdown disallowed for a forward pass.

The Tigers put the issue beyond doubt two minutes later when Hudson dummied his way over.

Wells collected his second six minutes from time by cashing in on another kick from Healey.