LEIGH coach Adrian Lam said his side produced their "gutsiest win of the season" after fighting back from 22-10 down to beat Salford 24-22 at the AJ Bell Stadium, closing the gap on Super League leaders Catalans Dragons to just two points.

Stand-off Ben Reynolds kicked a penalty from almost the halfway line as Leigh capped a stirring comeback against the Red Devils to record their first away win in Salford since 1983.

The game was locked at 22-22 when Reynolds stepped up to attempt the penalty after Leigh had recovered from a 12-point deficit against a Salford side desperate for a win after four straight defeats.

"I knew there wasn't an issue with the distance," said Lam when asked about Reynolds' chances of kicking the goal. "The wind was at his back so I knew if he got it on target, it'd go over."

Ken Sio, King Vuniyayawa, Andy Ackers and Ben Hellewell all scored tries for Salford while Marc Sneyd kicked three goals from four attempts. However, he missed a drop goal attempt with nine minutes remaining which proved costly.

Leigh, who have now won 12 of their last 13 games in all competitions, had scorers in Ed Chamberlain, Ricky Leutele, Lachlan Lam and Zak Hardaker while Reynolds kicked four goals from five attempts.

Salford had led 16-10 at half-time and then 22-10 early in the second half but they could not kill off the challenge of Leigh, who next week take on St Helens in the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup at Warrington's Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Lam continued: "I'm ecstatic - really, really proud of them. There have been some close games against Salford already this season and we knew it would go down to the last 10 minutes. In both those games we had been in positions to win but didn't make it. Today we iced it.

"I'm really proud of them considering we had a couple of late changes. We had Edwin Ipape pull out through illness then Aaron Smith who was down to replace him. So, we had to start Joe Mellor at hooker and I'm very proud of the way he played.

"Late disruptions mess up your momentum but with the Challenge Cup semi-final in six days it wasn't worth risking Edwin today.

"Tonight, we sit outright second on the ladder and are 80 minutes away from Wembley. We had 2,000 fans backing us today so I'm delighted for them."

Salford coach Paul Rowley said: "I thought it was our game for us to lose. We were in control but we were the masters of our own downfall.

"We have had three tight affairs with Leigh this season and they are a team that won't go away. We probably took a few shortcuts and our lack of discipline proved our undoing.

"Leigh are a team that come alive in your half and our lack of discipline with and without the ball was lacking today. It was probably a reflection of our current form and it's something we need to improve on if we want to progress for the remainder of the season.

"We still had enough opportunities to get the job done but Leigh are a good team in good form and we knew they would never go away."