Robert Lui inspired Salford Red Devils to their second win of the Betfred Super League season with a 24-8 success over Hull FC at the AJ Bell Stadium.
The play-making stand-off scored the game’s decisive try with seven minutes remaining, but his overall contribution was immense.
In the week they sold Gareth O’Brien to Toronto Wolfpack, some may have feared Salford would be short on creativity against a well-fancied Hull side, but the Red Devils led 10-8 at half-time before finishing strongly, with Jack Littlejohn and Ben Nakubuwai registering their first tries for the club.
Devils flying as they pick up a massive win against Hull 😈#SLSalHul pic.twitter.com/GYR6inB3jz
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) March 16, 2018
Lui kicked Salford in front with a sixth-minute penalty but fell behind through a Dean Hadley try before Marc Sneyd added two goals, however it was as good as it got for the Black and Whites.
Nakubuwai's converted try levelled proceedings but another Lui penalty put the Red Devils ahead at the break before second-half tries from Littlejohn, Lui and Greg Johnson condemned Hull to successive defeats.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Good to get the W tonight with the brothers, against a tough HULL FC side. Big thanks to our <a href="https://twitter.com/SalfordDevils?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SalfordDevils</a> FANS for coming out. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/wearesalford?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#wearesalford</a> 🔴⚪ï¸ðŸ”´âšªï¸</p>— Junior Sa'u (@junior_sau) <a href="https://twitter.com/junior_sau/status/974780140642275328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Salford boss Ian Watson said: "We have been guilty of beating ourselves in some games this season but generally I have been happy with our performances.
"The boys delivered and they deserve everything they get out of tonight. It was time for Robert Lui to step up and lead. I think both he and Jack Littlejohn did great jobs.
“Niall Evalds is an exceptional player and he was able to slot in at full-back seamlessly. I think it will push him on to become a better player.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Great to get a win with the brothers today, great team performance! Onto next week now, Big thanks to the <a href="https://twitter.com/SalfordDevils?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SalfordDevils</a> fans ✊ðŸ¾ðŸ’¯âšªï¸âš«ï¸ðŸ”´</p>— Gregory Johnson (@GregJohnsonPT) <a href="https://twitter.com/GregJohnsonPT/status/974776967735267329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Hull head coach Lee Radford said: "Salford had more zip offensively than us. We were second best and I have no complaints with the result.
"Salford asked more questions than us with their kicking game. This was a hugely important game but we’re very disappointed.
"We are missing some players and we need to get them back but that’s not an excuse. Ultimately we couldn’t get the job done."
