Salford Red Devils 26-16 Hull KR: Late tries give Red Devils edge over Robins in play-off hunt
The opening game of the Betfred Super League's Magic Weekend in Newcastle swung one way then the other before Salford Red Devils went on to seal the win with a flurry of late scores; watch all six games from St James' Park live on Sky Sports on Saturday and Sunday
By Marc Bazeley at St James' Park
Last Updated: 03/06/23 5:00pm
Late tries from Ken Sio and Chris Atkin saw Salford Red Devils steal a march on fellow play-off contenders Hull Kingston Rovers with a 26-16 win in the opening game of the Betfred Super League Magic Weekend in Newcastle.
Tries from forwards Elliot Minchella and George King, both of which were converted by the returning Lachlan Coote, helped the Robins into a 12-10 lead at half time, with Joe Burgess' try and three goals from the boot of Marc Sneyd accounting for Salford's tally.
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Sneyd's kicking kept the scoreboard ticking over for the Red Devils after the break, but late drama ensued after Dean Hadley and Deon Cross were sin-binned for their respective sides. Ryan Hall's try put Hull KR ahead, only for Sio and Atkin to finish following Ryan Brierley breaks and seal the win.
Of more concern for Hull KR though was the health of James Batchelor, who was taken off the field on a stretcher in the 25th minute after suffering an injury while making a tackle and went to hospital for a scan as a precaution.
Story of the game
Both sides reached the halfway point of the 2023 regular season level on points and firmly in the mix for a place in the play-offs, with Hull KR only above the Red Devils - beaten semi-finalists in 2022 - on points difference.
Salford were in the ascendancy early on, only to be denied a potential try under the posts by the video referee for what was deemed a knock-on. Then the Robins' defence came to the fore to deny both Sio and Tim Lafai.
Having seen out that period under pressure, Hull KR then stunned Salford by taking the lead in the 12th minute with a breakaway which saw Matt Parcell sprint clear and then pass back inside to support runner Coote, who in turn fed Minchella to finish under the posts for a converted score.
Rovers were then back having to hold out on their own line following a wayward offload from Corey Hall deep in his own territory, but it was the vision of Brodie Croft which eventually saw Salford unlock their opponents' defence midway through the first half.
Last year's Super League Man of Steel spotted a gap which allowed him to make a break followed by passing to Burgess for the winger race in from around 30 metres out, with Sneyd's conversion drawing the Red Devils level.
A lengthy delay to allow second row Batchelor to receive treatment after going down hurt while making a tackle ensued with around 15 minutes of the half remaining, and when play resumed Salford edged ahead in the 30th minute after Sneyd slotted over a penalty goal from close range.
Nevertheless, the Robins were back ahead five minutes before half time when interchange forward King ran outside to in and hit a line which allowed him to rampage over next to the posts followed by Coote again converting.
A penalty for a high tackle on Croft allowed Sneyd to close the gap to two points with a second successful goal on the stroke of half time, and the Red Devils were close to retaking the lead soon after the restart following a break - only for the final pass from Burgess to go awry.
Then Salford were denied a second time by the video referee when Burgess was deemed to have knocked on contesting the ball in the air with Shaun Kenny-Dowall before Lafai finished, but Sneyd's 1,000th career goal from another penalty brought them level as the clock ticked past the hour mark.
The England international edged the Red Devils back in front with his fourth of the afternoon four minutes later after being taken out off the ball by Hadley, who was sent to the sin-bin. However, the Hull KR man was quickly followed by Salford centre Cross for a high tackle.
Rovers responded by Hall snaffling an offload for a trademark finish wide on the left, yet the lead only lasted mere minutes as Brierley broke and then sent Sio over for a converted try which put the Red Devils four points ahead with 10 minutes left.
Atkin then put the seal on the win over his former club on the back of another break from full-back Brierley, taking an offload from Cross to finish followed by Sneyd slotting his seventh goal of the game.
Batchlor 'in a decent way' after leaving game
Hull KR head coach Willie Peters reported Batchelor was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure due to the symptoms he first exhibited after suffering the injury which forced him from the field
Batchelor lay motionless for almost 10 minutes as he was tended to by medical staff on the pitch at St James' Park before being carried off on a stretcher in a neck brace and taken to hospital
"James has gone to hospital as a precaution but from what I know he's in a decent way at the moment," Peters said. "When I spoke to the medical team they said he was in good spirits but because of the symptoms he gave initially, he needed to go to hospital. Initially he didn't have any feeling but then it started to come back."
Injury woe continued to pile up for Rovers with Lachlan Coote failing another HIA which will rule the full-back out for at least another week, while Sauaso Sue will also be sidelined after tweaking a hamstring.
What they said
Salford Red Devils head coach Paul Rowley
"I thought the boys deserved it. Their never say die attitude and they just keep going. It was a good contest and I thought it was a good game.
"I thought Brodie Croft was fantastic and I thought Ryan Brierley was fantastic and I feel like he has been the best fullback on the field for five weeks."
Hull Kingston Rovers head coach Willie Peters
"You get what you deserve in this game - and we got what we deserved. Credit to Salford but it was a poor performance from us today.
"I said to them at halftime we had some courage to defend our line, but you can only do it so often. I thought they controlled the ruck better than us and you win the game there."
Player of the match Brodie Croft
"It was a really physical battle. We knew KR were going to be like that the way they have been playing - they have played some great footy all year.
"We probably left a few points out there. We could have got frustrated at ourselves a bit but we held in there and got our points in the end."
What's next?
Salford are back in action on Friday, June 9 when they travel to Castleford Tigers (8pm). Hull KR's next match sees them fly out to France to take on Catalans Dragons on Saturday, June 10 (6pm UK time).
