Salford Red Devils 26-16 Hull KR: Highlights, player ratings and talking points

In a fast paced game riddled with big moments, sadly some worrying injuries and two yellow cards, Salford Red Devils came away with a 26-16 win over Hull KR despite scoring the same number of tries.

Highlights:

Salford denied early try
Salford Red Devils thought they had the first try of the Magic Weekend when they cut the Robins up with wide plays prior to winning a penalty. Then stand in hooker Chris Atkin looked to dive over but lost the ball over the line.

Hull KR strike first
After Salford again went close through Kallum Watkins, the Robins hit first. A lovely offload from James Batchelor set Matt Parcell away and great support from Lachlan Coote allowed Elliot Minchella to score.

Salford score one of the all time great Magic tries
Salford then levelled matters with an 80 metre try. Brodie Croft carved them up behind the ruck and found Joe Burgess in support to streak away.

Worrying scenes
Sadly we faced a very lengthy stoppage when Hull KR star James Batchelor was stretchered off after a nasty collision. Our thoughts are with him at this time.

Hull KR take the halftime lead despite two Salford penalties
Hull KR held the halftime lead as George King took a lovely drop off and charged over. That try came sandwiched between two

Salford butcher potential try of the season contender
Salford looked set for one of the tries of the season at the start of the second half as they kicked down field regather and attacked wide but bizarrely Joe Burgess at the end of the move tried to pass to Tim Lafai who was in touch and the ball was flung well into the stands.

Two yellow cards, two penalties
It was a wild few minutes. Salford levelled matters after a penalty for a hit on Tyler Dupree which Sneyd converted. He was then hit late in the set later and Sneyd nailed the penalty as Dean Hadley was sin binned. But it was 12-man each when Coote was hit high by Deon Cross.

Hall scores in the corner
There is no player you would back more in the corner than Ryan Hall and given extra space by the absence of Deon Cross Hall touched down in the corner to make it 16-14.

Brierley carves through and finds Sio
A sublime break by Ryan Brierley carved Hull KR open and he then found Ken Sio in support to streak away against his former club and score.

Atkin seals it
It was another Brierley break and this time he found support in the shape of Croft. He was tackled by great cover but Chris Atkin finished it under the sticks to make it 26-16.

Talking Points:

Disallowed tries
Paul Rowley was not a happy bunny at the break as he slammed “tough calls” that went against his side including a disallowed try for Kallum Watkins. Jon Wilkin even said they were “robbed.” There was another in the second half for Tim Lafai which highlighted the video referee process with the try being denied due to the referee’s on field call.

Brilliant Brierley
The former Hull KR man tormented his former club with two game changing breaks. He has to be considered one of the very best fullbacks in the league.

Salford’s time of year
It is the time of year that suits Salford’s attacking brand of rugby with dry and firm pitches and it is possible we could see them begin to overtake Hull KR as the league’s dark horses.

Player Ratings:

Salford Red Devils
1 Ryan Brierley – 9
2 Ken Sio – 8
28 Deon Cross – 7
4 Tim Lafai – 7
5 Joe Burgess – 7
6 Brodie Croft – 8
7 Marc Sneyd – 8
16 Tyler Dupree – 7
14 Chris Atkin – 8
10 King Vuniyayawa – 7
3 Kallum Watkins – 7
12 Sam Stone – 7
13 Oliver Partington – 7
Substitutes
21 Amir Bourouh – 6
8 Jack Ormondroyd – 6
19 Adam Sidlow – 6
25 Ben Hellewell – 6

Hull KR
1 Lachlan Coote – 8
4 Shaun Kenny-Dowall – 7
3 Tom Opacic – 7
33 Corey Hall – 7
5 Ryan Hall – 8
20 Mikey Lewis – 8
14 Jez Litten – 8
8 Jesse Sue – 7
9 Matt Parcell – 8
22 Dean Hadley – 7
16 James Batchelor – 7
12 Kane Linnett – 7
13 Elliot Minchella – 8
Substitutes
17 Matt Storton – 6
24 Sam Wood – 6
26 Sam Luckley – 6
10 George King – 6