Sushi for supper
v 
A game which on the face of it we had to win, a game which the fans (me included) feared we would slip up in as we did at The Willows earlier on in the season.
Early nerves were not eased by the sheer number of questionable decisions by the referee and the apparent unwillingness of the linesmen to muster the effort to raise the flag for offsides, forward passes or high tackles…but does that sound ungracious in victory?
Our win tonight takes us within 6 points of top spot and further increases our lead over Hull KR to 6 points as they lost but, i don’t want to dwell on that.
The atmosphere was good tonight but the crowd was down (11k plus change) which I put down to it being Salford and the World Cup starting. As ever, the team got a rousing reception and from the off we looked up for it but (with hindsight) we seemed a little…..reticent to play expansive, passing rugby – perhaps because we had something to lose?
Although we passed and got a lead of 12 points on the board, we seemed to relax and straight away Salford found a gap and capitalised to draw us back.
It was a tense and less than confident end to the first half which saw us struggle to cope with a Salford side that played fast and passed with confidence and who, with the help of Mr Smith got a good share of penalty shouts.
Jordan Tansey
Second half was a different story. It was another display of swift movement and expansive wide play, fast a loose balls flying across the park. This style of play obviously suited a rejuvenated Jordan Tansey who ran amok and gave Salford all sorts of trouble – he moved like a gazelle, stepped like John Travolta on acid and dived Salmon-like!! OK so maybe I’m painting a picture that is probably overly artistic but, you have to understand the sheer impact that he had on the match – his movement was O’Meley v Roby-esque in the impact it had on the team.
It feels like we have the makings of a really strong team now and Longy played a central directive role that along with the support of Fitzgibbon saw the movement off the ball match the determination of the pack WITH the ball.
The team never seemed to sit back in the second half and with every surge upfield, even the complete lack of consistency by the referee could not dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd for the determination of the team to capitalise on a teetering Salford.
Overall, a good solid performance and one which we’ll need to build on when we play Huddersfield next.
Hull FC 34 – 12 Salford City Reds
COME ON YOU ‘ULL!
Websites:
Hull FC:
Berrigan, Burnett, Cusack, Dowes, Fitzgibbon, Hall, Houghton, Lauaki, Long, Manu, Moa, Nicklas, Radford, Tansey, Tickle, Turner, Washbrook, Whiting, Yeaman.
Salford:
Fitzpatrick, J Smith, Henry, Talau, Gibson, Adamson, Jewitt, Sidlow, Alker, Broughton, Sibbit, Sneyd, Swain, M Smith, Littler, Leuluai, Tyrer, Holdsworth, Boyle.
Attendance: 11,397