Salford City Reds 16 Hull FC 32: Gleeson grabs brace as Hull FC make most of fine start
Hull stormed into an 18-0 lead after only 11 minutes and the Reds, despite a bold fightback, could not recover. Martin Gleeson crossed for two of Hull’s six tries.
Hull made a glorious start after a mistake by Ray Cashmere from the kick-off. Kirk Yeaman added his 15th try of the season from Sam Obst’s kick and Salford were 12-0 down after only five minutes with Gleeson crossing and Tickle booting both conversions.
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Hide AdStefan Ratchford’s blunder then enabled Tom Briscoe to go over in the corner and Tickle added the conversion.
Salford opened their account with Adam Clay latching onto Daniel Holdsworth’s kick for his fifth try in three games.
Hull continued to cause problems and Luke Patten’s dropped ball gave them the chance to make it 24-4 after 32 minutes with Lee Radford charging over near the posts.
Lee Jewitt was held short on one of Salford’s few raids before Hull blew another chance with a poor kick from Cameron Phelps.
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Hide AdSalford gave themselves a flicker of hope with Ashley Gibson’s try before the break from a pass by Holdsworth who added the conversion to make it 24-10.
The Reds scored just after the interval after smart play by Patten with Ratchford scorching over and Holdsworth adding the goal.
With Salford pressing for another try, Richard Horne intercepted a pass and raced 60 metres before being hauled down by Matty Smith. But swift handling put Will Sharp over in the corner to make it 28-16.
The points were secured for Hull with Gleeson going over for his second try after 63 minutes.
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Hide AdSalford City Reds: Patten, Broughton, Ratchford, Gibson, Clay, Smith, Holdsworth, Cashmere, Godwin, Paleaaesina, Anderson, Nero, Wild. Substitutes: Jewitt, L. Adamson, Boyle, Neal.
Hull FC: Phelps, Whiting, Gleeson, Yeaman, T. Briscoe, Horne, Obst, O’Meley, Houghton, Moa, Manu, Tickle, Fitzgibbon. Substitutes: Sharp, Radford, Westerman, Dowes.
Referee: B Thaler (Wakefield).