Griffin hat-trick downs Devils
7 Apr 2019
Josh Griffin crossed over for a hat-trick as Hull FC claimed a 23-16 victory over Salford Red Devils at the AJ Bell Stadium.
The Black and Whites moved up to sixth in the Betfred Super League table as a result as they bounced back from a 51-point defeat to Warrington Wolves last weekend to beat the home team with an improved second-half display.
Griffin opened the scoring before Marc Sneyd converted and added a penalty goal to put the visitors 8-0 up but Salford hit back through Josh Jones as Edwards Chamberlain added the extras.
Sneyd put Hull further ahead for a 10-6 half-time lead before Griffin scored his second try and the former nailed his conversion ahead of Griffin completing his hat-trick.
Niall Evalds touched down in the right-hand corner to give the home side some hope and Sneyd’s third-successful penalty goal made it 22-10.
Jackson Hastings replied with a try for Salford - which Chamberlain converted - with 11 minutes left, while Sneyd kicked a late drop-goal to confirm the win.
Hull FC coach Lee Radford said: "It was not pretty by any stretch but it was what we anticipated it was going to be – a really hard-fought two points.
"Salford don’t go away, they tend to be in the fight for the majority of games and this one was not different."
Salford coach Ian Watson said: "After that performance, there’ll need to be changes. We need to reshape some kind of individual mentalities.
"We’ve got people to come back but the guys that are playing should be taking their opportunities and not leaving it for me to make a choice."
