Hull KR 46 Salford 22: Rovers’ perfect record has Chester optimistic

The win capped a real rollercoaster of a year for the Robins and Chester was happy with his side’s second-half display in which they scored 36 unanswered points.

“I’ve learnt a lot about this group and we know we’ve got to be better and more consistent than we have been this year. It’s my job to make sure that we’re not fighting for survival next year.

“I’m disappointed that we finished off in the middle 8s. We deserve to be fighting for that Super League top-eight. We’ve been on a great journey together, with some good times and bad, but one thing about this group is that we’ve stuck together when things haven’t gone particularly well. After the disappointment at Wembley we sat down and thought to go unbeaten is the least the club deserves. Salford gave us a fright and somebody forgot to tell them our boys were in party mode.”

Salford built up a 22-10 lead thanks to tries from Greg Johnson, Harrison Hansen, Lama Tasi and Ryan Lannon, but they crumbled after the break.

Josh Mantellato contributed 16 points with a try and six goals, with other tries from Kris Welham, George Lawler, Ken Sio, Dane Chisholm, Tyrone McCarthy, Ben Cockayne and Maurice Blair.

Hull K R: Sio, Mantellato, Welham, Horne, Dixon, Blair, Chisholm, Walker, Lunt, Tilse, Larroyer, McCarthy, Lawler. Substitutes: Cockayne, Donaldson, Burke, Green.

Salford: Evalds, Jones-Bishop, Bibby, Sa’u, Johnson, Wood, Lee, A. Walne, Tomkins, Tasi, Hansen, Maitua, Krasniqi. Substitutes: Morley, Hood, Lannon, Menzies.

Referee: G Hewer (RFL).