Hunslet – always the Bridesmaid….
As the post war years progressed Hunslet had built a team which could compete with the best and had many good cup runs. Today they were involved in two Challenge Cup semi-finals, against Bradford Northern in 1948 and Halifax in 1954. Both ended in defeat.
After the successful 1944 Yorkshire Cup semi-final, Hunslet were involved in nine losing semi-finals before progressing to the Yorkshire Cup final in 1956. Things improved somewhat as they won 4 successive semis up to the Yorkshire Cup in 1965. Of the five finals reached only in two did the silverware find it’s way to Parkside! 14 semi-finals, 5 finals and 2 victories in 20 years – the best period in the club’s history, if only they could have won a few more of those games!
At the other end of the scale, the 1971/72 season came to an end today in what was the worst period in Hunslet’s history. An away game at Featherstone closed a season in which only two matches out of 34 had been won (Oldham in August and Doncaster in September) and ended with a bottom place finish for the second time. A draw against Castleford in the new John Player Trophy and a one point defeat in the replay at Wheldon Road were the nearest the team came to another victory. George Clark was the top try scorer with 13 and Dave Marshall finished with 65 goals and 135 points. How times had changed so quickly!
Danny Rowe who gave good service to Hunslet made his debut today at Hull in 1977. Having signed from Bramley Danny made 145 appearances over 7 seasons, scoring 33 tries. He returned to Bramley after his Hunslet career.
The formation of the Northern Union saw many Lancashire sides in opposition for the first time and today was the first visit to Mather Lane, Leigh for a disappointing 0-8 defeat.
