PLAY-JAKER!
Connor masterclass floors Salford
JAKE CONNOR produced a wonder show to leave the Red Devils well and truly burned.
The Hull full-back totally ran this one-sided game at the MKM Stadium, scoring one try and setting up another six.
The England international completely floored a Salford side who had come into the clash with high hopes after winning their opening two games.
Delighted Hull boss Brett Hodgson said: “Jake is unplayable at times.
“He was exceptional and we are obviously a pretty decent team with him in.
“He will get the accolades and rightly so but there are a lot of pieces in that puzzle for Jake to get the chances. Our pack was magnificent and laid the platform.
“I am very pleased with the performance and the number of players who stood up, as well as our response from last week’s defeat – that was better than last year so there’s a bit of evolution in our team.
“All the players today did a great job for the badge and the supporters. After a performance like that, everyone goes home happy.”
Salford coach Paul Rowley said: “I am absolutely gutted with the performance more than the result.
“I will not hide from that – it is a bad day.
“I am really disappointed because we came here with a massive amount of belief that we could win the game.
“They were highly motivated and aggressive and we let that spook us and we went into our shells.
“We were nowhere near resilient enough and that’s unacceptable.”
Connor was suspended for Hull’s previous game, a thumping defeat at the hands of champions St Helens.
But with captain Luke Gale banned for the next five games, Hull needed a big response from him – and they got it in spades.
His deft kicks sent in Darnell McIntosh and Jordan Lane and he was just as deadly with ball in hand.
An array of long and short passes set up Cameron Scott, Joe Lovodua, Lane and Chris Satae as Hull ran riot.
And the icing on the cake came with a clever feint before darting over to add his own name to the try-scorers’ list.
Scott also scored a brilliant solo effort, with Josh Reynolds adding a further touchdown.
Three of the tries came while Salford scrum-half and former Hull favourite Marc Sneyd was in the sin bin for a flop on Connor.
It summed up a dire day for Salford, who got late consolation tries from Ken Sio and Tim Lafai, with Lafai also grabbing a first-half effort.
Rowley added: “We will not look for any excuses.
“I do not doubt this group for one minute but we have to use today as an opportunity to give us a kick up the backside or a realism check.
“We work hard but we will have to work harder.”