Hunslet RLFC got back to winning ways yesterday (Sunday 7 May 2017) with a 36-26 victory over the North Wales Crusaders.
With the fans still settling into their seats Hunslet took the lead in the first minute when a Matthew Tebb run set up Danny Ansell who slipped a ball to Jimmy Watson to score. The conversion was unsuccessful but Tebb soon went over himself after Liam Mackay cut open the Crusaders defence.
The Crusaders had spent many minutes camped on the Hunslet line, but the Huns made it 14-0 when Jake Normington went over after swift passing on the last tackle.
At this stage it looked like we may be in for a cricket score, but a combination of slick North Wales handling and Hunslet errors meant the Crusaders were soon back in the match. Smith scored a full length try from a weak Sanderson kick, Price nipped in the right corner after the Hunslet defence failed to gather a kick and Millington sneaked under the posts catching the home defence napping.
North Wales lead 14-16, but from the restart failed to gather a kick and Cameron Leeming scored on the left to edge Hunslet back into the lead.
A combination of a North Wales player being sent to the sin-bin and the introduction of George Flanaghan meant Hunslet had the edge leading into the break, and Flanaghan himself extended the Myrtle and Flames lead as he went over from acting half-back. 24-16 to Hunslet.
A revitalised Crusaders started the second half and impressive scrum half Ryan Smith put the centre over in the corner to narrow the score to 24-20. But with George Flanaghan on the field Hunslet are always a threat and the man himself stretched Hunslet’s lead to 30-20 with a 30 yard winding run to the line.
The best try of the day though came on 55 minutes when Nyle Flynn split the Crusaders defence and slipped a brilliant pass to Danny Ansell who scored under the posts, Joe Sanderson converted after a difficult day with the boot, judging a strong wind.
Jake Normington looked to have sealed the deal for Hunslet, but unfortunately knocked on over the line, meaning a nervous end to the match for the Myrtle, White and Flames. A Crusaders try on the 70th minute again after brilliant play by Ryan Smith narrowed the score to 36-26, and a disallowed try 5 minutes later got the nerves twitching but Hunslet held on for a deserved victory.
If Hunslet are to progress this year they need to tighten their defence, their performance epitomised today by the strong running and tackling of South Leeds Lakers sponsored Man of the Match Michael Haley.
Teams:
Hunslet RLFC: Jimmy Watson, Cameron Leeming, Mufaro Mvududu, Aston Wilson, Marcus Webb, Joe Sanderson, Danny Ansell, Michael Haley, Matthew Tebb, Lewis Reed, Jake Normington, Brooke Broughton, Liam Mackay. Subs: George Flanagan, Jose Kenga, Jack Coventry, Nyle Flynn.
North Wales Crusaders: Thomas Johnson, Daniel Price, Callum Mulkeen, Earl Hurst, Dale Bloomfield, Jack Hansen, Ryan Smith, Jon Walker, Lee Hudson, Alex Davidson, Jack Houghton, Simon Atherton, James Dandy. Subs: Aaron Moore, Ryan Millington, Warren Thompson, Blake Turner.
This post was written by Ian Pickles using our Create an article for South Leeds Life page.
