Hull FC hit new low in disgraceful season as side drop to Super League bottom
Hull FC's dismal season took another turn for the worse on Saturday evening, with the club now outright bottom of Super League. The margin of defeat leapfrogged London Broncos ahead of the Black and Whites, with the capital outfit just losing out against Catalans Dragons in Perpignan.
For now, Hull face their worst-ever reality, with another woeful performance seeing them succumb to a huge 58-4 defeat to Salford Red Devils at the MKM Stadium, who toyed and tormented with their abject, below par, and humiliated opponents in a 10-try show.
The contest was done within ten minutes. It was just a case of how many. Salford barely got out of first gear and didn't have to, tying up their Super League play-off place and leaving Hull starring at one of their worst-ever campaigns, if not their worst-ever.
Read more: Highlights as woeful Hull FC go bottom of Super League after Salford Red Devils hammering
Hull's current situation is nothing short of a disgrace, the build-up of years and years of bad rugby decisions, and it showed no signs of letting up here, with a sparse crowd watching another massacre unfold. The squad is just so far off the pace required to compete in Super League; it's embarrassing, with the only silver lining being this time next week, and it'll all be over. That final whistle against Catalans Dragons can't come soon enough.
Simon Grix made five changes to his Hull side, but any hope of a spark was soon shut out, with Davy Litten lasting just 30 minutes on his return before limping off to injury. Jordan Lane was also disrupted in the first half, going off for an HIA, which he soon passed, while Ed Chamberlain and Brad Fash were also lost.
Elsewhere, Hull were without Carlos Tuimavave, Sam Eseh, Tom Briscoe, and Jed Cartwright, with Tiaki Chan, Morgan Smith, and Will Gardiner joining Chamberlain in coming back into the side. However, they were helpless to prevent the Salford onslaught. Paul Rowley's troops won the early territory battle, and after forcing the drop-out on just their second set, they made the pressure count. A slick right-to-left shift play opened up space, and Tim Lafai had enough about him to power over and open the scoring.
The Red Devils then hit Hull again through a scrum play, with Deon Cross sliding over out wide. And when Joe Mellor dived over from dummy-half under the sticks, the writing was on the wall. Salford showed some mercy, making a couple of errors, but they were far from done. Brad Singleton powered over from close range, with the try confirmed by the video official, before Lafai got his second via a long range interception. That put the away outfit 28-0 up at the break with some boos ringing out from the home crowd.
Hull thought they had scored early in the second half, with Logan Moy denied by the video referee after Harvey Barron got to grips with a high kick. Salford then eased back control of the game once again. A sweeping move saw Shane Wright in acres of space to score, with Nene Macdonald then powering over. Kallum Watkins then dived over in a quick-fire scoring spell, with Salford bringing up the 50-point mark through Lafai, who coasted to the line for his hat-trick try.
The Black and Whites then finally got on the scoreboard, with Zach Jebson taking Jack Walker's pass to score his first senior try. That brought some life into the crowd, who stuck with their side into the latter stages, but who were silenced again in the final moments, with Mellor twisting and turning out of an uncompleted tackle to score. That completed their rout and their top six spot, with Hull confined to the bottom of the Super League table with one round to go.
Teams
Hull Starting XIII: 37. Logan Moy; 25. Harvey Barron, 23. Davy Litten, 43. Ed Chamberlain, 26. Lewis Martin; 40. Jack Charles, 31. Jack Walker; 8. Herman Ese’ese, 19. Morgan Smith, 21. Will Gardiner; 15. Jordan Lane, 13. Brad Fash; 45. Yusuf Aydin
Interchange: 16. Jack Ashworth, 27. Zach Jebson, 28. Denive Balmforth, 46. Tiaki Chan. 18th Man: 30. Matty Laidlaw
Salford Starting XIII: 1. Ryan Brierley; 2. Ethan Ryan, 3. Nene Macdonald, 4. Tim Lafai, 5. Deon Cross; 32. Jayden Nikorima, 7. Marc Sneyd; 8. Brad Singleton, 24. Joe Mellor, 27. Gil Dudson, 15. Shane Wright, 12. Kallum Watkins; 13. Olli Partington.
Interchange: 16. Joe Shorrocks, 23. Chris Hankinson, 29. Loghan Lewis, 31. Joe Bullock. 18th Man: 14. Chris Atkin
Scorers
Hull Tries: Jebson. Goals: Charles 0/1
Salford Tries: Lafai 3, Cross, Mellor 2, Singleton, Wright, Macdonald, Watkins. Goals: Sneyd 9/10
Scoring System: 0-4, 0-10, 0-16, 0-22, 0-28, HT, 0-34, 0-40, 0-46, 0-52, 4-52, 4-58, FT
Referee: Aaron Moore
Attendance: 9,273
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