Salford Red Devils 16-26 Hull KR: Highlights and match report

Two teams on the back of humbling defeats met at the AJ Bell tonight and served up a competitive and enticing fixture.

Ultimately, it went the way of Hull KR thanks to two tries from Mikey Lewis as the Robins claimed a second win of the season.

Highlights:

More Mikey Lewis Magic

Mikey Lewis has made a habit of conjuring up fantastic tries especially from chip kicks as we saw him do on loan at York last year and in the play-offs against Warrington. This year has been no different and he came up with another chip and chase try tonight to pull Hull KR 18-0 up just ahead of halftime.

Sio sustains sensational scoring success

I’ve managed to cram five words beginning with ‘s’ in that subheading which seems like a lot but after five rounds, Ken Sio has more tries than he’s played games poaching his seventh tonight. After a dismal first half, he finished off a move down the right to give Salford a whiff of a comeback.

Burgess scores the try of the game

The prospect of a comeback was well on truly on though in the 61st minute when Joe Burgess scored the try of the game. It came from a Marc Sneyd intercept with the scrum-half running 70 metres standing up England international Ryan Hall before feeding Burgess for a try that would make it 18-16 following the conversion. That would be as close as Salford got however.

Match report:

Things couldn’t have gone much better for Hull KR in the first half as they looked to bounce back from a 42-8 humbling to St Helens last week.

Once Elliot Minchella got the scoreboard ticking as he continues his impressive return from injury with a try, Hull KR enjoyed smooth sailing in the first stanza with Matty Storton crashing over following good work from Albert Vete and Mikey Lewis scoring a signature chip and chase try. Jordan Abdull’s three conversions made it 18-0 at the break.

As for Salford, things looked like they were getting worse after a disappointing defeat to Huddersfield in which they failed to score a try.

However, after 120 tryless minutes, Salford got themselves a four-pointer when Ken Sio scored his seventh of the season finishing a lovely move down the right. Things soon got more interesting when Shane Wright grounded Marc Sneyd’s grubber kick making it 18-10 leaving the home side in with a real chance of snatching something.

Hull KR had even more cause for concern when Salford made it three tries on the bounce with the score of the game. Sneyd intercepted, outfoxed Ryan Hall before feeding Joe Burgess to score. Sneyd then made it two from three with the boot cutting Hull KR’s once 18-point lead down to just two points.

The Robins needed a response and a response is what they got when Jordan Abdull’s high bomb was fielded by Frankie Halton who then fed Lewis for his second try and it would prove to be the game clinching score. Abdull converted and later added another two points from a penalty after Ryan Hall had denied Salford’s last attempt to get something out of the game when his scrambling efforts denied Sneyd a 40/20 which could’ve given the Red Devils a small chance at snatching victory.

Abdull’s fifth goal from five attempts in the last minute wrapped up things nicely for Hull KR handing them a 26-16 win, their second of the season.

Teams and scorers

Salford Red Devils
Team: Ryan Brierley, Ken Sio, Tim Lafai, Deon Cross, Joe Burgess, Brodie Croft, Marc Sneyd, Sitaleki Akauola, Andy Ackers, King Vuniyayawa, Shane Wright, James Greenwood, Danny Addy
Substitutes: Elijah Taylor, Ryan Lannon, Jack Ormondroyd, Alex Gerrard

Tries: Sio, Wright, Burgess Goals: Sneyd 2/3

Hull KR
Team: Will Dagger, Sam Wood, Jimmy Keinhorst, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Ryan Hall, Mikey Lewis, Jordan Abdull, Tom Garratt, Matt Parcell, George King, Frankie Halton, Kane Linnett, Elliot Minchella
Substitutes: Albert Vete, Dean Hadley, Matty Storton, Jez Litten

Tries: Minchella, Storton, Lewis (2) Goals: Abdull 5/5