Half-time blast helps Salford into last eight
SALFORD are into the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup after again coming from behind to see off Hull KR in a rematch of last October’s epic Million Pound Game.
It was a resurgent second-half performance from Ian Watson’s side after some harsh words at the interval in another superb clash between the two sides, though the ending was somewhat less dramatic than that which condemned KR now coached by ex-Red Devils director of rugby Tim Sheens - to relegation.
On the day of his 30th birthday, Kris Welham threatened early, first losing control of the ball over the line at the end of Salford’s first attacking set and then being denied by the video ref when attempting to ground a Rob Lui grubber.
But the Red Devils had switched off when KR opened the scoring midway through the first half, hooker Shaun Lunt finding the gap right from the base of the scrum, a trademark Sheens move, and running half the length of the field to break the deadlock.
And the home side hadn’t learned their lesson five minutes later, Lunt again exploiting the space around Michael Dobson from KR’s very next scrum.
Dobson protested vociferously that Jamie Ellis had committed an obstruction after feeding the scrum - and looked to have a strong case taste but the try was awarded by Robert Hicks without deference to the video official.
An Ellis penalty extended the visitors’ advantage just after the halfhour mark, but the Red Devils finally got themselves on the board before the half-time break when Ryan Lannon collected Dobson’s short kick to touch down.
Salford hadn’t really got going in the first period, but were much improved from the restart, Craig Kopczak racing onto a delayed pass from Lui and charging through to score next to the posts.
Watson’s side then served KR a of their own medicine to hit the front for the first time, Kris Brining breaking from the base of the scrum to score a carbon copy of Lunt’s opening try of the match.
Moments later, Lannon broke through and celebrated prematurely before an ankle-tap ended his charge to the line just inches short, but tackler James Butler-Fleming held on too long, giving the home side a penalty and earning himself 10 minutes in the sin bin.
Ben Murdoch-Masila - whose breaks had been influential in two of the Red Devils earlier tries - sealed the victory for his side in the closing stages when Welham palmed back a Gareth O’Brien high kick.
“At half-time, we just spoke honestly as a group,” said Watson. “We knew the standards they were reaching in the first half didn’t measure up to what we expect.
“We allowed Hull KR to dictate the speed of the game.
“We also spoke about us being soft in defence. They were dominating the ruck and getting up too quickly. We had to stop that and fortunately for us we did.
“They (Rovers) had a big dig and credit to them. We had to restructure and fixed it up in the second half.”