Will Pryce played a starring role as Huddersfield defeated Salford at home for the first time in nine years; Greg Eden ran in a hat-trick to help Castleford record their first win of the 2022 Betfred Super League season by beating Hull FC at home
Sunday 6 March 2022 19:28, UK
Reports, reaction and highlights from Sunday's two Betfred Super League matches as Huddersfield Giants scored a rare home win over Salford Red Devils and Castleford Tigers got off the mark against head coach Lee Radford's former club Hull FC...
Will Pryce starred with a try and five goals as head coach Ian Watson masterminded Huddersfield's first home win over his former club Salford for nine years.
Pryce was one of five home try scorers as Giants bounced back from a 22-12 defeat away to Wigan Warriors in Round 3 to record a third win in four games.
Innes Senior grabbed two of Huddersfield's other tries, with Chris Hill crossing for his first since moving to the club from Warrington and Chris McQueen adding the other.
Salford, who had won eight consecutive away meetings against Huddersfield, including a 2020 victory at Headingley, have now lost their last two fixtures, conceding 82 points, after a 100 per cent start.
Paul Rowley's visitors, despite holding an early 2-0 lead through Marc Sneyd's 35-yard penalty, never threatened to extend their impressive sequence at the John Smith's Stadium in a match where they also had Ryan Lannon sin-binned.
What they said:
Huddersfield Giants head coach Ian Watson:
"Last year, I was quite beat up losing the games [against Salford]. It wounded me because you always want to go up against your old club and win as well.
"I didn't want to feel like that again but mentally I am in a different place. Last year it was fresh, I had just left Salford. I am happy we won, but it is more the manner in which we have won."
Salford Red Devils head coach Paul Rowley:
"The scoreline suggests we were well beaten, but it does not reflect the effort the boys put in. The execution of our attack was off but in defence, we never gave in. We were tough, resilient and scrambled remarkably well.
"In the first two minutes, we got a set restart against us, a repeat set and a penalty. It took a long time to get anything back from there. The stats were ridiculously in Huddersfield's favour and we pretty much drowned for the entire game."
Greg Eden scored a hat-trick of tries as Lee Radford secured his first win as Castleford coach following a win over his former club Hull FC at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle.
The Tigers came into the game decimated by injuries and suspensions and desperate for a victory after three disappointing losses, while Hull were looking for their third win of the season.
Eden excelled in his first game of the season, while Paul McShane and Gareth O'Brien were outstanding leading an inexperienced Tigers side to victory in a full-blooded game featuring 11 tries.
The Tigers scored on the first play of the game despite kicking off through Daniel Smith, who collected Ligi Sao's dropped ball to touch down from close range, with Cheyse Blair and O'Brien, who also kicked four conversions and a drop goal, crossing too.
Hull kept themselves in the contest through tries from Danny Houghton, Josh Griffin, Adam Swift, Connor Wynne and Jamie Shaul - three of which were converted by Ben McNamara - but they also played for a period down to 12 men, following a yellow card for Houghton.
What they said
Castleford Tigers head coach Lee Radford
"I thought Greg Eden coming in for his first game of the year was phenomenal and our big blokes did a real good job as well.
"I know there were headlines prior to the game, but for me it was just to get the win. It was special for us to get a win after what has been real hard work for the last four weeks."
Hull FC head coach Brett Hodgson
"We need to learn a lesson from this. Everyone is hugely disappointed, and the players are saying the right things in the sheds at the moment but, ultimately, we're just not good enough a team to just turn up thinking we're going to win.
"It's probably a good thing to have just a four-day turnaround because we don't want to dwell on it. Today we weren't at the races mentally, but we need to go to Leeds next week and put in a performance."
