It was the 1959 Championship Play-off final at Odsal today against St. Helens. Hunslet had qualified with a shock win at Wigan while Saints had easily beaten Oldham The papers fancied St Helens’ forwards to get on top of the Hunslet six and their backs to see them home, their one concern was that youngster Wilf Smith was up against Brian Gabbitas.
Saints ripped into Hunslet straight from the start, McGinn being bundled into touch early on and kicking a penalty goal immediately after. Hunslet then rocked St Helens when Jim Stockdill received a pass and the defender missed him and the try was scored. Billy Langton converted. A second Saints penalty made it a one point game but Gabby cut through the defence on 15 minutes and his quick play the ball on the line let in Kevin Doyle for a converted try. A Langton penalty stretched the lead to 12-4. Hunslet were on top but winger Tom Van Vollenhoven (a doubt before the game) showed his class when, on his own 25, he broke free and with little space “twinkled” his way past Gabbitas, Langton and Shaw to score. From this point, St Helens clicked into form, turning a 4-12 deficit into a 24-12 half time lead. Saints continued their scoring in the second half and, despite tries to Harry Poole and Geoff Gunney, won the game 44-22. The attendance was 52,560
Billy Langton’s first conversion ensured he had played and scored in all games, the first time for a Hunslet player.
Hunslet’s Cumbrian winger Johnny Coulson was registered and made his debut today in 1924 at Wigan. He scored his first try in the first game of the following season and went on to score another 102 in 274 games. He played in the 1929 and 1931 Yorkshire Cup finals. He signed from Millom and represented his County 18 times.
A young Sonny Nickle made his debut today in 1986 on the wing down at Fulham. He was with the club for four seasons, playing 28 games before moving to Sheffield Eagles. He also played for St Helens, Bradford Bulls and Leigh Centurians. His representative career took in Great Britain, GB Under-21s and England including a tour down under where he played three games in Papua New Guinea.
Sonny’s debut game was the last of the disappointing 1985/86 season, finishing 14th out 18 teams. Graham King got 22 tries and Gary Rowse 77 goals.
Hunslet had lost the first leg of the 1942 Challenge Cup first leg 29-0 at Oldham so had little chance of progress. They did manage to win the match but only by one point 18-17. That brough the curtain down on the 1941/42 War-time league. Hunslet finished 5th, Eric Batten scoring 19 tries and Billy Thompson 42 goals.
