Injuries in defeat may prove costly for Devils
SALFORD compounded last week’s defeat to St Helens with another error-strewn loss against Hull FC.
The black and whites ran out 35-4 victors as Richard Marshall’s side again committed too many handling errors and conceded penalties in key moments.
“We came up against a tough Hull team and, as last week, I thought there were some moments there where we were in the fight and made it a contest,” said the Red Devils boss.
“There were a few tries that were down to the bounce of a ball, but there were some where they got through us and we need to look at that and improve in that area.
“There are similarities between the two performances in that discipline has cost us.
“We need to look at that, make sure it’s a priority that our discipline without the ball is better - ruck infringements and getting onside but also not offloading on your own line and a few other things that really put us under too much pressure.”
It may prove to be an even more costly defeat for the Red Devils, who lost key men Dan Sarginson and Elijah Taylor to injury.
“[Taylor’s shoulder] felt a bit loose, he said - so we’ll have to get that looked at. Dan got a knock in the ribs that was quite substantial. Hopefully, fingers crossed, it’s not too bad, but at the same time, he couldn’t continue.
“And when you lose a fullback or an outside back, it really knocks you about a bit. Elliot Kear, he had a knock as well, but he went to fullback and did his best there for us.”
The combination of Hull’s powerful pack and the dynamic duo of Marc Sneyd and Josh Reynolds in the halves left the Red Devils chasing the game from pretty much the opening minute.
The black and whites turned the ball over deep in the Salford half almost exclusively and the middle forwards restricted the advances of a pack not containing Pauli Pauli after he and Krisnan Inu were dropped on the back of the Saints defeat.
It was from a penalty that Hull opened the scoring midway through the first half when Andre Savelio charged over, before Sneyd extended the advantage to eight points when Ryan Lannon was sent to the sin bin for a late hit on the ex-Salford playmaker.
Remarkably, it was when down to 12 that the Red Devils began to settle into the game and had their first real look at the Hull goalline, only for Andy Ackers to lose the ball in a four-man tackle under the sticks.
The crucial score came on the stroke of halftime as Reynold touched down on the back of a great Jake Connor break and gave his side a 14-0 half-time lead.
When Harvey Livett knocked on inside his own 10m soon after the restart, Reynolds capitalised to score and effectively ended the tie as a contest.
Further tries came from Josh Griffin and Cameron Scott, plus a penalty and dropgoal from Jake Connor, with Salford’s only try coming from Ken Sio for a second successive match.
Attention now turns to the Challenge Cup, where Marshall will hope to get a first victory as Red Devils coach against Championship outfit Widnes next weekend.