Recap
The Hawks were back on home soil this afternoon after a hammering away at Leigh last week hopefully today’s fixture against the Dewsbury Rams would give us a chance to get back to winning ways. The return of Grimshaw, Marchy and Tom Bush along with the arrival of Watson and Singleton would definitely boost confidence in camp but the Rams were going to be tough rivals after pushing Featherstone Rovers all the way.
Josh Nathaniel proved he was back and needed to be taken seriously with some outstanding defence both on the line and in centre field, taking the risk and stopping Scott Hale in his tracks it was a brilliant effort from the youngster. Grimshaw kicked to the corner and Mapals handled the winger well every time and the boys were doing all the right things. Mapals caught an almost impossible pass and offloaded it out to Oakesy it was almost try time but the ball came loose in a collision with the Dewsbury defence and 15 minutes in ex Superleague star Karl Pryce caught hold of a offload and burrowed over in the corner for the Rams first, there wasn’t anything wrong with the defence on the whole just a bit more control needed on the ball handler, Dale Morton missed from the touchline and the home side trailed by 4. Hunslet bounced back and showed just how well they could play and looked from the stands like the more dominant side, Yates was attempting to make things difficult with his storming runs that seemed uncontrollable for the Rams, but the error rate raised and this is what let us. The Dewsbury side had to take advantage when they could, Jymel Coleman put through the kick and when Jimmy Watson failed to deal with it Coleman sprinted through and got his hand too it. It didn’t take the Hawks long to react and the good attacking decisions almost rewarded them, Haighy worked well from dummy half and Brickwood was clever with ball in hand but even more forced passes went to ground, Haughey tried an audacious offload and gifted Lucas Walshaw with an easy 6 points!
The three tries in the first half had no doubt put the Hawks on the back foot but the boys looked like they could come back from it, Liam Welham was across the line in an excellent effort from the centre, but the official called the ball had been knocked on, unfortunate but there was nothing negative to be said about the opening sets. The defence was also much better drilled, improved line speed was forcing the errors from the Rams. Individual efforts from Singleton and Oakesy were powering the players back deep into their own half and tempers were raised, a break in play came after referee Merrick went down with an ankle injury, replacement touch judge took over things and the Hawks were even more fired up! The Rams attacked the line but the home side had it covered and managed to hold Pryce up 3 times, an outstanding effort! They didn’t stop there; fresh to the field Tom Bush took the ball on the full and made it 50 yards up field, Ansell was next and set it up perfectly for Grimshaw at first receiver; dancing through the defenders he dived over the line. The fans were out of their seats as they knew the Hawks deserved that try; Marchy just kicked it wide for the conversion 14-4. Liam Hood looked dangerous and was beginning to control play he worked well with Grimshaw. The home side had been by far the better team in the second half and played in this style until the last minute, as the Rams attempted to put it dead before the final whistle, Ansell charged it down and got a pass away to Houston, although there wasn’t time to convert it into points the Hawks were unlucky to finish the game with just a bonus point.
The game had been full of positives and taking nothing away from Dewsbury who had played well throughout, but the Hawks would have been disappointed not to get a win from today! The bonus point is good enough though and it will certainly give us a good frame of mind for the big challenge next week. This afternoon had been an amazing display and there were some impressive performances from the like of Andy Yates, Jimmy Watson & Danny Grimshaw, the improvements will need to be enforced for the game at Featherstone Rovers next week.
Well done to Barry and the boys.
Hunslet RLFC Line up
1. Jimmy Watson
2. Lee Brickwood
Sponsored by: Eric Simon
3. Josh Nathaniel
4. Liam Welham
Sponsored by: Adrian Jinks
5. Lee Mapals
Sponsored by: Leeds Bacon Company Ltd
6. Danny Grimshaw
7. Danny Ansell
8. Andrew Yates
Sponsored by: Village Urban Resorts South Leeds
9. Liam Hood
Sponsored by: Colin & Kath Smith
10. Luke Menzies
Sponsored by: Fred & Jane Hopkins
11. Tommy Haughey
Sponsored by: Dawn Caley
12. John Oakes
Sponsored by: Leeds Bacon Company Ltd
13. David March
Sponsored by: A & R Construction
14. Luke Haigh
Sponsored by: Elliott & Ewan Green
15. James Houston
Sponsored by: Stephen Bower Bespoke Joinery
16. Brad Singleton
Sponsored by: Available Call 0113 2712730
17. Tom Bush
Sponsored by: Heineken
Timeline
01:03 Danny Grimshaw Try