Hunslet, although losing 32-24 at home to a Rangi Chase-inspired Rochdale at the weekend, showed plenty of resolve after conceding two tries in the first six minutes (subsequently trailing 28-6 as the game entered the final quarter) to force their way back into the contest. And, in the end, Hornets were glad to hear the final hooter.
The Parksiders closed with tries by Jimmy Watson, Oli Burton, Harvey Hallas and Jack Render, while debut scrum-half Jake Sweeting landed four goals from as many attempts, and head coach Alan Kilshaw said: “I was naturally disappointed at the beginning of the game, to go ten points down so quickly, and Hornets had 13 sets to our two in the first 15 minutes, but the players showed tremendous character to get back into the contest, especially after having lost two `middles’ in Ethan O’Hanlon and Cole Oakley early on. Those losses, which were big in themselves, were after Kieran Moran had been ruled out before the game through having to undergo an emergency appendix operation, while Sion Jones was unavailable because of work commitments. In fact we’ve not had much luck with injuries in home games this season!”
`Killer’ continued: “A key figure in the match was Rangi Chase, who paraded his skills to our detriment in what I understand was his best game for Rochdale, not only with ball in hand but with the boot. We have to defend against that kind of talent better, although many others have said that before when faced with Rangi Chase, and I’m sure that many others will say it in the future. If he’d been playing for us I’ve no doubt that we’d have won.”
Hunslet’s boss, who as is awaiting guidance from the Rugby Football League on interpretations of the obstruction rule, largely for clarity regarding future matches, said: “We also started chasing the game when we didn’t need to, but we definitely finished strongly. We’re continuing to show lots of resilience, with local lads such as Watson, Wayne Reittie, Harvey Whiteley, Matty Stableford and Josh Jordan-Roberts setting an example that the others very readily follow. And I was pleased with how Patrick `Patch’ Walker went on debut, in his first game since coming out of retirement. After a slow start he had a real impact – despite a couple of stitches in a head wound – and his kick to the corner for Render’s try was real class.
“There are areas we need to improve on but they are little details and if we can fix those up there’s no reason why we can’t make an impact towards the end of the season.”
