Relief was the main emotion after Hunslet Hawks broke their Kingstone Press League One duck with a 28-24 win at Newcastle Thunder.
“I was relieved afterwards,” said coach Matt Bramald, whose team climbed to 10th in the table.
“There was a lot of anxiety during it, it was a really strange game.
“It was tit-for-tat scoring and it was going to be who was in the lead when the hooter went and fortunately it was us.”
Bramald admitted Hawks need to learn how to build on a strong opening.
“We started well, we were 10 points up and cruising,” he said.
“We did the things we said we needed to do, we were aggressive in defence, we completed our sets and scored some tries.
“But then we didn’t deal with a couple of things and we started getting a bit edgy and nervous and that continued for the rest of the game.”
Bramald said the victory – at their fourth attempt – was a monkey off the team’s back.
“Hopefully we can kick on,” he added.
“The more games you go without a win in the league, the more the pressure increases.
“We have got a break now for the Challenge Cup-tie against Salford on Sunday.
“Obviously that’s going to be very tough for us, but hopefully we can enjoy it.”
Hawks came through the win two days ago injury free.
Article courtesy of the Yorkshire Evening Post
