Salford City Reds 18 Hull KR 44: Dobson shines for depleted Hull KR in Salford romp

HULL KR coach Justin Morgan saluted scrum-half Michael Dobson after his side's romp at struggling Salford.

Michael Dobson scored 16 points with a try and six goals, while Clint Newton and Shaun Briscoe each collected two tries.

Morgan, whose side have now lost only one of their last eight Super League matches, was without Kris Welham, Jake Webster, Joel Clinton and Mike Ratu, and lost Ben Galea with a scratched eyeball.

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Morgan said: "Dobbo did a great job for us even though he won't be pleased with some parts of his display because of the high standards he sets.

"He and Scott Murrell made some good decisions with their kick selection.

"Michael has matured hugely over the last two or three years and some people don't realise the stress placed on scrum-halfs. His organisational skills impressed me.

"Michael Vella also led the team well in his two stints after returning from injury.

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"We did reasonably well in the first half but were not consistent enough for me to say we were flawless.

"But there were enough indications to encourage me with two games left before the play-offs.

"We didn't show the respect for the ball we should have in the first half but controlled the game in the first 20 minutes of the second half."

Salford made a dreadful start with Dobson's crossfield kick causing chaos in the defence and Liam Colbon strolling over in the corner after two minutes.

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Dobson booted the touchline conversion and Salford had a let-off, with referee Ian Smith disallowing Scott Murrell's 'try' from his own neat grubber.

Dobson's darting burst almost brought another touchdown but Stuart Littler pulled off a crucial cover tackle.

It was no surprise when Rovers added a second try after 28 minutes with Newton racing on to Dobson's kick and the Australian scrum-half landing his second conversion to make it 12-0.

It needed a thundering tackle by Phil Leuluai on Scott Wheeldon to give the Salford fans something to cheer.

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Against the run of play, the Reds clawed back to 12-6 when Owen produced a superb pass to send Rob Parker over and Steve Tyrer added the goal.

Hull KR restored their 12-point lead with Josh Charnley taking Dobson's pass to go over for a converted try.

Rovers made sure of victory with further touchdowns from Murrell and Newton to storm ahead 28-6 after 51 minutes.

Dobson's effort added to the Reds' woes, and Shaun Briscoe added a fifth try in 14 minutes with Salford on the rack.

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The Reds did manage to stem the tide through Ray Cashmere and Matty Smith to make the scoreline respectable at 38-18.

But Karl Fitzpatrick's blunder behind his own try line gifted Briscoe a second try with Dobson booting his sixth conversion.

Salford: Fitzpatrick, Broughton, Talau, Gibson, Tyrer, Ratchford, Sneyd, Cashmere, M. Smith, Neal, Littler, Sidlow, Swain. Substitutes: Parker, Leuluai, Spencer, Owen.

Hull KR: Briscoe, Fox, Charnley, Cockayne, Colbon, Murrell, Dobson, Vella, Fisher, Netherton, Newton, Galea, Watts. Substitutes: Lovegrove, Wheeldon, Hodgson, Mariano.

Referee: I Smith (Oldham)