Rovers race away from Reds
Hull KR overcame a sluggish start to condemn new Salford coach Matt Parish to a 21-8 defeat in his first game in charge.
Last Updated: 17/07/11 6:24pm
Hull KR overcame a sluggish start to condemn new Salford coach Matt Parish to a 21-8 defeat in his first game in charge of the Reds.
After a dismal first-half performance at Craven Park, Rovers sparked into life after the break as tries from Ben Galea, Matt Cook and Kris Welham gave their play-off hopes a boost.
They are now just one point behind local rivals Hull FC in the race for the all-important eighth place in the Super League table.
Salford had a strong first-half wind behind them and Vinnie Anderson gave Parish the perfect start with a try in the third minute, crossing the line after Daniel Holdsworth's clever kick had opened the defence up.
Rovers, without Blake Green, were looking a little disjointed and Josh Hodgson was adjudged to have stripped the ball in the tackle, giving Holdsworth an easy opportunity to make it 8-0 with another two points.
The standard of play then deteriorated as the rain began to lash down, with both sides struggling to keep hold of the ball.
Rovers rallied but chances went begging as two Michael Dobson passes fell short of second rower Clint Newton's hands close to the Reds line and Rovers finished the half scoreless.
Initiative
There was not much improvement in quality immediately following the restart as the errors continued with Rovers remaining the worst offenders.
But Rovers finally took the initiative in the 55th minute when Galea, boosted by a new one-year deal, took Dobson's pass to plunge over the line.
Dobson's conversion made it 8-6 and suddenly, with the momentum now with Rovers, the scrum-half pegged Salford back with a 40/20.
Rovers continued to crank up the pressure and they were rewarded with a 65th-minute penalty which Dobson landed to level the scores.
And they would kill the game off in the final 15 minutes as Cook went over in the 69th minute for a crucial try which Dobson converted to put the hosts into a 14-8 lead.
Dobson, with two try assists and three penalties under his belt, added a drop goal to put the game beyond Salford, who had conceded 15 unanswered points in 20 second-half minutes.
Rovers completed the victory on the stroke of full-time when Welham scored his 21st league try of the season after grounding Dobson's kick to the corner.
Dobson converted to complete a 21-8 win - Rovers' fourth Super League victory on the trot and another confidence-booster ahead of next week's Challenge Cup quarter-final clash with St Helens.
