HULL KR 54 SALFORD RED DEVILS 0
CALLUM WALKER, St James’ Park, Newcastle, Saturday
HULL KR made light work of Salford in one of the most comprehensive results in Magic Weekend history.
Rovers were on it from the first minute, and, despite never really getting out of second gear, Willie Peters’ men looked slick with ball in hand and effortlessly energetic in defence led by the ever-impressive Jez Litten, Mikey Lewis and Arthur Mourgue – with the latter registering 26 points.
Noah Booth made a try-scoring debut for Hull KR with wingers Joe Burgess and Tom Davies both ruled out while Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Kelepi Tanginoa were also absent for Peters’ side.
Meanwhile, Toby Warren debuted for Salford wearing shirt number 50, with Ryan Brierley and Chris Hankinson still out with injury.
The writing was on the wall in the opening exchanges when James Batchelor crashed over with just two minutes gone, but Salford’s successful Captain’s Challenge for a Batchelor knock-on eased the pressure.
An already-beleaguered Rovers backline was hit further when Oliver Gildart left the field moments later with a painful leg injury.
But that didn’t stop KR from attacking with vim and vigour and, following a penalty, Dean Hadley forced his way to the line. Mourgue converted for a 6-0 lead.
Rovers should have had another shortly after with Lewis firing a pass to the touchline instead of Jack Broadbent.
It was against an unstoppable tide that Paul Rowley’s side were working with and a powerful Sam Luckley charge resulted in another four points on 24 minutes. Mourgue made it 12-0 with his boot.
Try as they might, the Red Devils were just no match for their clinical opponents and, after Peta Hiku forced his way over, Lewis’ superb break down the middle laid the platform for Litten to streak home from 30 metres.
Mourgue’s two conversions made it 24-0 with five minutes remaining of the first half, but there still should have been enough time for Hadley to get his second with the back-rower dropping the ball with the line begging.
Jayden Nikorima – who earlier passed an HIA – landed a brilliant 40/20 at the start of the second 40 minutes, and Salford themselves knocked-on over the whitewash when Nathan Connell went hunting.
Painfully for the Red Devils, KR exploited that mistake as a beautiful move involving Litten, May and Lewis ended with the latter finding Batchelor in unorthodox fashion. This time Batchelor kept ahold as Mourgue converted expertly from the touchline for 30-0.
Booth grabbed a delightful debut score off a Hiku flick pass to make it 36-0 but the final quarter was littered with errors as both sides looked content to wind the clock down.
It was left to Litten to grab his second under the posts on 69 minutes following a great run by substitute Bill Leyland.
Mourgue converted once more, and he added the extras to his own two efforts with six and two minutes to go, the French playmaker backing up a stellar Tyrone May run and then a Hiku canter to round off the scoring at 54-0.
GAMESTAR: Jez Litten was irrepressible around the ruck.
GAMEBREAKER: Three Hull KR tries in ten minutes either side of the half-hour was too much for Salford.
HIGHLIGHT REEL: Noah Booth’s debut try was a thing of finishing beauty after Peta Hiku’s sublime flick pass.
ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Jez Litten (Hull KR)
2 pts Mikey Lewis (Hull KR)
1 pt Arthur Mourgue (Hull KR)
MATCHFACTS
ROVERS
35 Arthur Mourgue
36 Noah Booth (D)
3 Peta Hiku
4 Oliver Gildart
18 Jack Broadbent
6 Mikey Lewis
7 Tyrone May
8 Sauaso Sue
9 Jez Litten
16 Jai Whitbread
11 Dean Hadley
12 James Batchelor
13 Elliot Minchella
Subs (all used)
15 Sam Luckley
21 Jack Brown
24 Eribe Doro
25 Bill Leyland
18th man (not used)
26 AJ Wallace
Also in 21-man squad
10 Jared Waerea-Hargreaves
19 Danny Richardson
23 Lee Kershaw
Tries: Hadley (9), Luckley (24), Hiku (31), Litten (34, 69), Batchelor (49), Booth (54), Mourgue (74, 79)
Goals: Mourgue 9/9
RED DEVILS
6 Kodi Nikorima
2 Ethan Ryan
17 Esan Marsters
45 Jonny Vaughan
28 Nathan Connell
13 Joe Shorrocks
27 Kai Morgan
18 Jack Ormondroyd
21 Sam Davis
30 Tiaki Chan
25 Ben Hellewell
22 Matty Foster
49 Harvey Makin
Subs (all used)
19 Justin Sangaré
24 Harvey Wilson
43 George Hill
50 Toby Warren (D)
Also in 19-man squad
1 Ryan Brierley
23 Chris Hankinson
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 12-0, 18-0, 24-0; 30-0, 36-0, 42-0, 48-0, 54-0
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Rovers: Jez Litten; Red Devils: Ethan Ryan
Penalty count: 7-3
Half-time: 24-0
Referee: Liam Rush
