Hull KR 21 Salford City Reds 8: Salford start scares Robins but second-half display seals points

With 25 minutes remaining, their play-off hopes looked dead and buried as they trailed Salford 8-0. But 21 unanswered points saw Morgan’s men win their fourth game in a row to keep alive their hopes of making the top eight.

“We are now just one point off the eight and we still need to win at least a half of our remaining games,” said Morgan. “It was important for us to win and we knew our season was pretty much on the line in terms of the league and we had some difficult things to combat.

“We had to combat a new coach coming in which can often rejuvenate a team and give them energy. We did that well.

“It was a big game for both clubs and I thought we showed some good composure in the second half.

“We missed the boat defensively a little bit and we defended as well as we could’ve with them coming out of yardage in the first half.”

Morgan was pleased with his side’s performance after a lacklustre first half when they were playing into a strong wind.

Composure was the number one priority and that was addressed by his players in the second 40 minutes.

“We got in at half-time and we spoke about our composure,” he said. “We controlled the second half very well. We were unlucky not to score a few more tries but the wind conditions made it difficult for both teams.

“I thought our goal line defence was good but I think we can improve when teams come out of yardage as we let them off the hook too many times.”

Reds coach Matt Parish was disappointed to have lost his first game in charge but admitted he got a lot out of the game for the rest of the season.

“We leaked 21 points in the second half and that’s not good enough,” said the former New South Wales assistant coach.

“I got a lot from the game, I just didn’t get the two points. The effort was there particularly in defence but we didn’t control the ball in the second half because of the wind. We didn’t take our opportunities and we should have scored another couple of tries in the first half.”

The Rovers tries came from Kris Welham, Ben Galea and Matt Cook and Michael Dobson kicked four goals and one drop goal.

Vinnie Anderson got Salford’s try and Daniel Holdsworth kicked two goals.

Hull Kingston Rovers: Briscoe, Fox, Welham, Webster, Colbon, Murrell, Dobson, Vella, Hodgson, Netherton, Newton, Galea, Cook. Substitutes: Lovegrove, Taylor, Fisher, Latus.

Salford: Patten, Broughton, Anderson, Henry, Williams, Smith, Holdsworth, Cashmere, Godwin, Boyle, Neal, Nero, Wild. Substitutes: Sneyd, L. Adamson, Jewitt, Paleaaesina.

Referee: T Roby (RFL).