Conceding soft tries disappointed interim Salford City Reds head coach Alan Hunte during his side’s defeat to Hull FC in his last Super League game in charge.
The Reds took an early lead through Danny Williams when Hull took control of the game with tries from Ben Crooks, Richard Whiting and Tom Lineham.
Scores from Gareth Owen and Jodie Broughton sandwiched another Whiting try and Hunte said his side defended well and showed vast improvement on last week’s defeat to Widnes Vikings.
“It’s disappointing, the way we’ve lost in respects to we have tried to set some high standards and we let in three soft tries,” he said.
“That puts you under pressure but we’re a million miles away from where we were last week.
“Obviously we spent a lot of time working on our defensive shape and I thought we defended very, very well.”
After some early pressure, Salford took the lead on four minutes when the returning Martin Gleeson fed Williams for the try – duly converted by Sneyd.
Twenty minutes later Hull were in front with two quick scores, first regaining parity through Crooks before Whiting finished another break away with Joe Westerman converting both.
Hull extended their just three minutes into the second-half when Lineham latched on to Whiting’s kick-through to touch down in the corner, before Westerman slotted over the kick.
The Reds reduced the deficit after 58 minutes when Owen picked up the ball at scrum-half metres from and dummied past two defenders to cross the line, before Sneyd added the extras.
The Black and Whites restored their two-score lead two minutes later when Whiting charged down a kick to run in a try unopposed with Westerman slotting over a straightforward conversion.
As the hooter sounded, Broughton caught a long cross-field kick and ran 60 metres to score his 50th Salford try while Sneyd maintained his 100% afternoon with the boot.
Earlier in the day, the club had announced Brian Noble will be handed the head coaching role on a permanent basis and Hunte is looking forward to working with him.
“His pedigree speaks for itself,” he added. “He’s coached two of the country’s biggest, most successful teams in the Super League era and he’s coached internationally.
“Myself and Sean [Long] have already sat down and spoken with him and we’re all looking forward to the challenge ahead.”
Hunte and his assistant coach Sean Long were assured positions in the backroom staff and the Yorkshireman is eager to learn from the experienced Noble.
“We’ve got to sit down and define each individual’s pathway within the club and what’s expected and what we can learn as well,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to being in learning environment and working with a world class coach.”
Image courtesy of YentonianCarlos, via YouTube, with thanks
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