Rangi Chase inspires Salford to first win of Super League season over Hull FC
Last Updated: 02/03/15 11:00am
Rangi Chase inspired Salford to their first win of the season as the Red Devils beat Hull FC 32-28.
New Zealand-born England half-back Chase set up two tries for Josh Griffin and others for Niall Evalds and Junior Sa'u as the big spenders returned to winning ways in the wake of Gareth Hock's high-profile departure.
Hull had fought back from an early 10-0 deficit to lead 18-16 early in the second half but were undone by Chase's artistry in front of a partisan home Salford crowd.
Evalds justified his selection early in proceedings by linking up superbly to cross for the hosts after a thundering midfield burst from Jordan Walne.
Josh Griffin tagged on the conversion and the Red Devils were 10-0 up after just six minutes when Weller Hauraki put Tommy Lee clear from halfway with Theo Fages in support to cross the whitewash.
Hull hit back with three penalties in a row close to the Salford line and notched their first try with new halves Leon Pryce and former Salford scrum-half Marc Sneyd combining for Jordan Rankin to race over after 16 minutes.
Sneyd added the goal to cut the deficit to 10-6 before Chase, after recovering from being felled by a high tackle by Chris Green, sent Evalds scorching over for his second try to take the Red Devils back in front 16-6 and Griffin added the conversion.
Referee Tim Roby sin-binned home enforcer Adrian Morley for a tackle on Dean Hadley but, despite being reduced to 12 men Salford continued to pile on the pressure with Lee having a try ruled out.
Hull scored just before the break after Darrell Griffin conceded a penalty with Thompson cutting inside Sa'u and Chase to score under the posts and reduce the gap to 16-12.
Sneyd landed a penalty on the stroke of half-time to cut Salford's lead to two points before the hosts lost Mason Caton-Brown, carried off on a stretcher early in the second half, following a sickening collision with Mark Minichiello as the winger attempted to clear his line after collecting a high kick.
Evalds also left the field injured before Hull went ahead for the first time after 54 minutes following a penalty conceded by Liam Hood.
Pryce's kick close to the line rebounded fortuitously off Chase for Setaimata Sa to accept the gift to score but Sneyd surprisingly missed the straightforward conversion.
The Red Devils regained the lead on the hour courtesy of Chase's long pass to Griffin who forced his way through two defenders to crash over in the corner with his touchline conversion making it 22-18.
Chase again turned on the magic to mesmerise Hull with dazzling handling skills to send Griffin barging over again three minutes later to increase the lead to 28-18 before the Black and Whites reacted furiously after a Tom Lineham try was disallowed.
However, Jordan Thompson's barn-storming run brought him a second try seven minutes from time to reduce the arrears to 28-24 and set up a nail-biting finale before Chase then struck again with another backdoor pass to put Sa'u over in the corner and seal a much-needed victory.
The drama was still not over with Lineham going over in the corner three minutes from time to leave Salford with a four-point advantage but Hadley lost possession with the hooter sound close, much to the maligned Red Devils' relief.
