Hull KR 40 Salford Red Devils 4 - Proud Tony Smith hails his players after seven-try victory

Tony Smith’s side showed their growing pedigree at the right end of the table, outscoring their opponents by seven tries to one.

Salford took an early lead through Ken Sio’s try but the first half turned on the sin-binning of Chris Atkin and Rovers took full advantage to score 16 unanswered points before the break.

George Lawler spun out of a tackle to go over with 19 minutes gone. Jordan Abdull’s simple conversion made it 6-4.

Ben Crooks claimed Rovers’ second try as he dived in at the right corner from Adam Quinlan’s pass.

Rovers suffered a blow as Dean Hadley had to go off 10 minutes before the break following extensive treatment, with Matty Storton coming on in his place.

But the home side stretched their lead just before half-time as Brad Takairangi chased his own kick through to touch down and Abdull added the extras to make it 16-4 to the home side.

Salford needed to start the second half well but Morgan Escare dropped the ball over his own line and Tui Lolohea kicked out the goalline drop-out on the full so Abdull was presented with an easy penalty to make it 18-4.

Rovers also picked up a yellow card as Quinlan kicked the ball out of an opponent’s hand as he went to play it on the ground.

A delayed pass by Abdull put in Shaun Kenny-Dowall for Rovers’ fourth try as he dotted down and Abdull’s conversion made it 24-4.

Try number five was not long coming as Matt Parcell bounced out off a tackle and went over and Abdull made it 30-4.

Ryan Hall showed his power after intercepting and, although it took him two goes to claim the ball, he scored try number six.

Kane Linnett’s try added gloss to the final score but there was more woe for the visitors as Pauli Pauli picked up a straight red card for a shoulder barge on Abdull.

Hull KR coach Tony Smith was impressed by the way his players defended as a team.

He said: “I’m really proud of the way the players went about the whole game, but our defence in particular.

“We conceded a try from a kick and that was the only way they were going to score I thought.

“I think we’ve pretty good at scoring points anyway. Their structure was really good defensively and we had to wear them down.

“We talked about how we were going to break these people down. We were going to have to go through them at some stage and eventually that’s what we did.

“I’m pleased with the way we attacked as well as defended but overall it was a pretty solid performance.”

Smith praised his players for their team ethic, adding: “They all worked for each other. Across the board I thought we were pretty consistent in our energy levels and our effort levels.”

Hull KR: Quinlan, Hall, Crooks, Takairangi, Kenny-Dowall, Milnes, Abdull, Hadley, Linnett, Johnson, Lawler, Parcell, Maher. Substitutes: Sims, Litten, King, Storton.

Salford: Escare, Burgess, Sio, Davies, Williams, Lolohea, Atkin, Mossop, Ackers, Wells, Livett, Pauli, Taylor. Substitutes: Burke, Luckley, Patton, Ikahihifo.

Referee: Chris Kendall (RFL).