Hull FC took the two points on a wet and windy Sunday afternoon, despite a spirited first-half showing from Salford Red Devils.
Going into the break 6-14 down, the Reds were right in the contest, but a flurry of tries from the Black & White’s in the second period confirmed a win for the visitors.
Head Coach, Paul Rowley handed Club debuts to four loan signings: Dan Russell, Tom Whitehead, Cain Robb and Kobe Rugless, with Sam Hill retaining his place on the wing after his first senior try a week ago.
A new-look matchday squad looked full of energy from the start, with Nathan Connell weaving his way through the FC defence to create our first opportunity.
Shifting the ball right, Hill almost found his way over but for a scrambling Hull backline. However, a clean take by Harvey Barron on the last and a penalty for a late hit changed the momentum.
Former Red, Cade Cust got his hands on the ball and with a step off his left foot, he created the space to sprint through the line and under the sticks.
One threatened to quickly become two, but Joe Shorrocks – who enjoyed a fine individual performance – somehow held Davy Litten up over the line to deny what looked a certain try.
With renewed energy, a neat interplay between Robb, Brierley and then Connell sent the fullback racing towards the sticks. He was eventually chopped down by Rapana, but offside was called by the referee and handed Salford a full set in opposition territory.
Quick hands from Brierley and Hankinson gave Vaughan a chance in the corner, but the natural centre intelligently cut back inside and flicked a clever offload for his left edge partner, Hankinson to slide over. Just reward for Salford’s persistence.
With momentum firmly behind the home side, a contentious decision flipped the game on its head. Brierley’s bomb was spilled by Rapana, but the referee adjudged it went backward and waved play on. Building back up the other end, Hull created numbers on the left edge to send Lewis Martin over.
FC extended their lead a few sets later from a similar position, where Litten this time completed his assignment by powering through and grounding the ball.
It created a two-score advantage for the Black & White’s at the break, which was made wider when Sam Eseh powered through early into the second period.
A scrappy next ten minutes, with both teams conceding penalties, was ended with Zak Hardaker scooting over from dummy-half to score.
With a 20-point lead and momentum firmly in their favour, Tom Briscoe made no mistake from a Salford handling error, picking up the pieces to run 30 metres and score.
The scoring was complete just minutes from time when Barron – denied by the video referee a few sets earlier – showed good agility to pick up Sezer’s grubber and dive over in the right corner.
After three consecutive home fixtures, Salford hit the road next weekend with a trip to St Helens.
MATCH FACTS:
Salford XIII: Nathan Connell, Jonny Vaughan, Chris Hankinson, Toby Warren, Sam Hill, Esan Marsters, Ryan Brierley (C), Jack Ormondroyd, Cain Robb, Chris Hill, Dan Russell, Matty Foster, Joe Shorrocks.
Interchanges: Joe Bullock, Harvey Wilson, Tom Whitehead, Kobe Rugless.
Tries: Chris Hankinson.
Conversions: Chris Hankinson (1/1).
Hull FC XIII: Jordan Rapana, Harvey Barron, Tom Briscoe, Davy Litten, Lewis Martin, Cade Cust, Aidan Sezer, Herman Ese’ese, Amir Bourouh, Liam Knight, Zak Hardaker, Ed Chamberlain, Yusuf Aydin.
Interchanges: Jack Ashworth, Brad Fash, Jack Charles, Sam Eseh.
Tries: Cade Cust, Lewis Martin, Davy Litten, Sam Eseh, Zak Hardaker, Tom Briscoe, Harvey Barron.
Conversions: Zak Hardaker (3/5), Jack Charles (2/2)
HT: 6-14
FT: 6-38
