Salford RLFC were emphatically knocked out of the Challenge Cup 60-0 by Hull FC.
Mike Gray’s men cruised past amateur side Hammersmith Hills Hoists 42-10 in the second round to set up a clash with the Super League outfit, but were blown away inside a freezing CorpAcq Stadium.
The visitors raced into an early lead after two minutes when Yusuf Adin charged down a kick and acrobatically grounded the ball, leaving Zak Hardaker to kick the first of eight conversions.
Smelling blood against their part-time opponents, Hull went in search of a quickfire second and manufactured an overload from a well-worked scrum, which released full-back Davy Litten to score in the sixth minute.
A combination of tight defensive play and clever kicking saw Salford work their way deep into Hull territory, but the hosts failed to force their way past The Airlie Birds’ stubborn backline.
Hooker Amir Bourouh forced his way over from yards out on the final play of a set to add a third try after 27 minutes, before Harvey Barron latched onto the end of a floated pass from Jake Arthur to score Hull’s fourth seven minutes from break.
Hardaker kicked his third successful conversion of the match as Hull went into the interval with a comfortable 22-0 lead.
Frenchman Arthur Romano scythed through the Salford defence to touchdown under the posts before Litten darted forward from dummy-half for his second try of the match as Hull added two quick scores in seven minutes after the restart.
Stand-off Cade Cust weaved his way through a gap in the Salford backline to score before he turned provider, releasing Joe Batchelor to put Hull 44-0 ahead.
After Hardaker kicked another conversion, the Humberside team went further in front when Litten wrestled his way over the tryline to complete his first career hat-trick.
With Salford showing signs of tiredness, sharp interplay between Litten and Arthur worked the space for Crust to score his second of the night, before halfback Arthur marked his Hull debut with a try as FC extended their lead to 60-0.
On a night where Grady’s men were outclassed but never outfought, Rafael Van Osselaer tracked back and made a crucial tackle to deny Hull a score with the last play of the game.
