4th November….
The one cup-tie today was in 1944’s Yorkshire Cup quarter final 1st leg at Featherstone, a “fine match full of vim and fire”. In his 13th season with Hunslet full-back Jack Walkington was still being reported on his “brilliance” in linking up with the three-quarters and relieving touch-finding kicks in defence. His display together with the cleverness of centres Shanks Watson and Cyril Morrell and a dominance in the scrums for possession starved Featherstone’s chances and Hunslet took a 12-0 score back to Parkside’s second leg.
1899 saw a Roses match at Halifax featuring Hunslet’s half-back Herb Robinson and forward James Ramage. Heavy driving rain greeted the players and Lancashire were the better team in the first half building up an 8-3 lead. Yorkshire fared better in the second half but couldn’t quite close the gap, going down 13-16.
In 1905 thick fog enveloped the Boulevard in Hull as Yorkshire prepared to play Lancashire. A slight improvement at around kick-off time meant the game got underway and Harry Wilson lined up with the forwards. In a low scoring game Lancashire won 8-3.
The same fixture at the same venue in 1909 saw Billy Batten cry off with an ankle injury and Bill Jukes was a no-show due to a family illness but Hunslet still had three men in the game in full-back Herbert Place, half-back Fred Smith and the evergreen Harry Wilson in the pack. In the first couple of minutes Smith instigated a move which led to the opening try and Place converted. Lancashire turned this into an 11-5 lead before the Tykes roused themselves and scored three further first half tries, Place adding one goal for a 16-11 half-time lead. Smith scored one of Yorkshire’s second-half tries as they went on to win 27-14.
5th October….
In the late 40s and early 50s Hunslet had a successful recruitment policy in bringing Rugby Union players up from Wales. Today, from Newbridge, second-rower Granville James made his debut at home to Halifax. In an eight season Hunslet career Granville played 172 games and scored 61 tries. In 1951 he gained the first of his six Wales caps, scoring a try against Other Nationalities and in 1955 played for those opponents against France.
In 1931 in the Yorkshire Cup Hunslet had seen off Bramley and Hull Kingston Rovers easily at Parkside. The semi-final today took them on a train ride to a match against Hull at The Boulevard. The Hunslet forwards dominated the home six with Dolly Dawson and Dai Jenkins getting tries. Stand-off George Todd added a third and Jack Walkington three goals as a 15-0 win took them to the final.
1938’s England v Wales game saw Eric Batten make his international debut at Llanelli. 15,000 turned out on a misty afternoon but Eric and centre partner Cyril Morrell could do little as Wales were by far the better side winning 17-9, despite playing the second half with 12 men following an injury.
Danny Ansell gained his second Wales cap today in 2017 at Townsville, Queensland against Fiji in a World Cup Group match. Wales were heavily beaten 6-72.
1908’s Australian tourists were up against Yorkshire today at The Boulevard. Billy Batten and Freddie Farrar were in the backs and Bill Jukes, John Higson and Harry Wison in the pack. Australia’s forwards outplayed the Yorkshire six, consequently the backs not having much opportunity. Batten was described as doing nothing wrong with his limited chances but the reporter was scathing about Farrar saying that apart from his try he could not seem to do anything right. Australia won 24-11.
Albert Goldthorpe had an outing with Yorkshire today in 1898 against Lancashire together with team mates James Ramage and Herb Robinson. Yorkshire won 20-9 despite the reporter criticizing Goldthorpe, Robinson and Yorkshire’s other backs for kicking rather than running and passing.
Albert was in action again in 1903 at Workington against Cumberland but only by accident. Thick fog disrupted Yorkshire’s travel plans with many players not making the team train and having to make their own way. At kick-off time Yorkshire were still two men short and Albert, having travelled with the team, was pressed into service four years after his last county game. The fog affected visibility at the Workington ground but Yorkshire came through to win 11-0.
After their historic first round win in the 1974 Floodlit Trophy over Widnes, their first appearance in this competition came to an end at Warrington today as they lost 17-36.
