Recap
The Hawks had been waiting since April for a long awaited victory having been the bonus point kings of the championship week after week but we managed to turn over Workington Town at the South Leeds Stadium to boost our survival hopes.
Mapals was faced with plenty of high balls in the opening quarter but managed to diffuse them comfortably. Pryce occasionally jumping in at dummy half was catching the Town markers not square and forcing the penalties. 7 minutes gone and Hunslet had the perfect opportunity to go looking for points on the last tackle James Coyle changed direction then a chip through the gap he had left wide open for Tommy Coyle to get his hand to pounce for the try. Hunslet had opened things up and didn’t seem to be cooling off. A half break from Grimshaw on the restart was only rescued with an ankle tap from Town the playmaker looked dangerous with the ball in hand. The possession leaning in the Hawks favour Eaton’s side looked much more comfortable when having to defend. Houston did well to take in one of Workington’s difficult kicks and the forward even managing to capitalise from it a surge down field before offloading to supporting prop Yates. Andy was hauled to the ground by 3 of the visitors to stop him running the full length. Karl Olstrum wanted to spark his side into life and it was his pressure forcing fullback Kain into making a try saving tackle on the line. The Hawks had allowed Town to comeback from a set that was going nowhere, a good drop out and some courageous defence from Oakes and Haigh put an end to any threat they posed. Coyle was influential with his kicking game this afternoon a high one into the right corner bounced awkwardly but Hawks winger Pryce picked it up cleanly and got it over the whitewash. Skipper David March also had his kicking boots on grabbing both of the conversions. Heading to the break with a safe 12-0 lead was vital and Mapals made sure this happened for his team mates bundling his opposition winger into touch on 40 minutes.
2 minutes of magic for Town produced two early tries and a missed tackle from fullback Kain on the next play allowed them to cross once again for a try that had the potential to be the game breaker despite a dubious decision for a forward pass Kayle Connor added the extras to an Elliot Miller effort and they had punished Barry’s side, 12-16 the score. 65 minutes on the clock and the ball was flung around by the Hunslet outfit, Houston got it out to Yates who gave it out the back to March, and he risked a final spiralling pass that finished back in the hands of Houston who stormed through a gap in the stunned defence. Play cooled once again for a short period a 40-20 from Town not made into anything, then a shock yellow card for the visitors Elliot Miller. Miller was sent packing for interfering with a quick tap restart from a ball that went into touch. Making the most out of the missing man the home side were looking for another try to keep us well out of danger, Watson on the field after missing out last week was proving difficult for the Workington forwards to control taking 3 or 4 of them to stop him in his tracks. The Coyle combination was in full swing this afternoon James stabbing a kick into the goal, it bounced back off the bottom of the sticks and the Hawks fans were already out of their seats cheering as Thomas Coyle picked it up and dived over the line for his second of the game. Inexplicably he missed the conversion directly in front of the posts. The hosts had extended their lead to 22-16 and only had minutes to hold on to seal the victory.
Outstanding defensive pressure from Brickwood and Haughey who secured the line in the dying minutes. The final hooter blew and the Hawks had done it, getting the win they had worked so hard for in the last few weeks proved to everyone they were still fighting. Lots of passion and plenty of positives to take into next week from a convincing 22-16 victory. The fight to avoid relegation is still very much on despite having moved off the bottom of the table there is still work to be done starting away at York next week. Hope to see you all there supporting the boys.
Hunslet RLFC Line up
1. Stuart Kain
Sponsored by: Beth Hampshire
2. Waine Pryce
Sponsored by: Yorkshire Signs
3. Liam Welham
Sponsored by: Adrian Jinks
4. Lee Brickwood
Sponsored by: Eric Simon
5. Lee Mapals
Sponsored by: Leeds Bacon Company Ltd
6. Thomas Coyle
Sponsored by: Yorkshire Signs
7. James Coyle
Sponsored by: Yorkshire Signs
8. Andrew Yates
Sponsored by: Village Urban Resorts South Leeds
9. David March
Sponsored by: A & R Construction
10. James Houston
Sponsored by: Stephen Bower Bespoke Joinery
11. Tommy Haughey
Sponsored by: Dawn Caley
12. John Oakes
Sponsored by: Leeds Bacon Company Ltd
13. Danny Grimshaw
14. Luke Haigh
Sponsored by: Elliott & Ewan Green
15. Luke Menzies
Sponsored by: Fred & Jane Hopkins
16. Jimmy Watson
17. Chris Clough
Sponsored by: Heineken
Timeline
00:04 Thomas Coyle Try
00:05 David March Goal
00:25 Waine Pryce Try
00:26 David March Goal
01:08 James Houston Try
01:09 David March Goal
01:18 Thomas Coyle Try