We don’t make it easy for ourselves – if there’s a hard way to win a game we manage to find it.
That is Hunslet coach Gary Thornton’s assessment, with his team having climbed to fifth in the Betfred Championship on a run of four successive wins.
The Parksiders are becoming comeback kings and that was the story again in the 37-30 victory at London Skolars three days ago. “We started quite well, we were in the game for 15-20 minutes and then we conceded three pretty sloppy tries and found ourselves 18-0 down after half an hour,”
Thornton recalled. “But we made a couple of changes, our bench was a bit stronger than theirs and Michael Haley and Zach Braham – on his debut – made a massive difference.
“It was 18-12 at half-time and I was confident we’d go on and win the game. We totally dominated the second half, got to 36-18 and then hit the self-destruct button again.”
Michael Haley. Two converted tries closed the gap to just six points, but Cain Southernwood made the game safe for Hunslet with a drop goal. Thornton added: “I was pleased with the win.
“We don’t have a good record down there, they are a bit of a bogey team, but the manner in which we finished the game was a bit disappointing.
“It took some of the gloss off, but coming back from 18-0 down showed a bit of character. “In the last 12 minutes we made it harder than it needed to be, but we found a way to win.
“We just need to be better at closing games out and managing games properly.”
Braham’s first appearance since his move from Doncaster was cut short by a hamstring strain and he will be assessed at training tonight. Brad Foster had a similar problem and was not risked.
