McDonnell scores four tries as Rhinos rout Salford

Betfred Super League

Salford Red Devils (0) 0

Leeds Rhinos (6) 28

Tries: McDonnell 4, Miller Goals: Miller 4

James McDonnell's four-try haul underpinned a comfortable Leeds victory as they saw off the beleaguered Salford Red Devils to go fifth in the Super League table.

Salford, whose ongoing financial troubles have severely depleted their squad, defended tenaciously throughout the first half to restrict their visitors to a single score by McDonnell and Lachlan Miller's penalty.

But it was a different story after the interval as back rower McDonnell went over twice more inside the first five minutes to complete his hat-trick and Leeds stretched their advantage further when Miller converted his own try.

McDonnell galloped through to register his fourth late on – and had a fifth chalked off for a forward pass – while Salford, who remain second bottom, recorded a blank scoresheet for the fourth time in seven league games.

Salford captain Kallum Watkins' return to Leeds earlier this week made him the sixth player to depart since the start of the year – although it was agreed he would not feature against his former club.

With full-back Ryan Brierley sidelined by a hamstring problem, the home side handed a first start of the campaign to Chris Atkin – who was shoulder-charged by Keenan Palasia within seconds of kick-off, earning the Rhinos' loose forward a spell in the sin bin.

Dogged defence by the Red Devils kept their visitors at bay, with Jarrod O'Connor brought down just short of the line and Ryan Hall narrowly failing to gather Jake Connor's kick to the corner.

But Salford's handling errors, particularly inside their own territory, meant they were unable to gain traction going forward and they eventually fell behind when Connor burst through and dummied before offloading for McDonnell to score.

James McDonnell (left) has scored five tries in his past two Super League games

However, Connor's conversion attempt thudded off a post and, despite incessant Rhinos pressure towards the end of the first half, they could only add a routine penalty goal from Miller on the stroke of the interval.

Leeds were quick out of the blocks after the turnaround and Harry Newman's deft backhand pass to Hall on the wing was swiftly returned for the centre to set up McDonnell's second try of the night.

McDonnell's treble soon followed as he ran onto Connor's crafty kick through and, although the Rhinos had Mik Oledzki yellow-carded for a high tackle on Matty Foster, it did nothing to derail their momentum.

Newman wriggled across the line, only for the try to be chalked off by the video referee for a double movement, but Miller nipped between two Salford defenders to collect Morgan Gannon's kick for the visitors' fourth score.

That ended McDonnell's monopoly on tries, but the 25-year-old burst clear for his fourth of the night and referee Liam Rush denied him a fifth late on because of Newman's forward pass in the build-up.

Troubled Salford Red Devils have now lost six of their first seven Super League games

Salford Red Devils head coach Paul Rowley told BBC Radio Manchester:

"We're really pleased with the effort as always, but we won't sit there and be pleased with just having good effort – we want to get better and improve people.

"We created enough opportunities in that first half that I think, with the X-factor personnel – the big earners if you like – we nail some points.

"But the character and commitment of the team, led by people like Jack Ormondroyd and Joe Mellor, is second to none.

"I'm going to take every small win and celebrate it. Small wins for me are seeing young people make their debuts and develop and seeing senior players like Jack find something within himself he never knew was there."

Leeds Rhinos head coach Brad Arthur told BBC Radio Leeds:

"It wasn't the greatest spectacle but we kept them to nil and sometimes that can be tough to do in these sort of games, when it's risk-free football.

"We were good defensively, our intensity was good, completions were good, we played the right field position – we just probably didn't look as crisp as I'd like us to.

"When you're trying very hard to chase the scoreboard, you can lose your way a little bit and we did that in the first half instead of letting it evolve.

"In the second half, once we relaxed a little bit, we played more direct. There's plenty there to like."

Salford Red Devils: Atkin, Wagstaffe, Marsters, Vaughan, Glover, Nikorima, Morgan, Ormondroyd, Mellor, Foster, Wright, Shorrocks, Wilson.

Interchanges: Davis, Sangare, Pye, Hill, Yates.

Leeds Rhinos: Miller, Hall, Newman, Handley, Lumb, Frawley, Connor, Oledzki, O'Connor, Jenkins, Bentley, McDonnell, Palasia.

Interchanges: Gannon, Lisone, Sinfield, Holroyd, Nicholson-Watton.

Referee: Liam Rush