Three tries in eight minutes at the start of the second half sunk Whitehaven at South Leeds Stadium this afternoon (12 April 2015).
A tough gritty match was fought out in wet and windy conditions, but Hunslet Hawks came away with two valuable points in the Kingstone Press Championship.
Brown kicked off for Hunslet and after a couple of exchanges it was the visitors who opened the scoring. On five minutes Parker and Calvert broke down the left and released Lepori who ran in from the 20. Brockie converted to give Whitehaven a 0-6 lead.
Hunslet immediately put the pressure on with good attacking play. They were rewarded when Lee dived over for the Hawks’ first score. Brown kicked the afters and the teams were all square at 6-6 after 12 minutes.
Duckworth made Hunslet’s next score, going over in the corner after good passing from Keinhorst and Briscoe. Brown missed the kick, but the Hawks led 10-6 with 21 minutes gone.
Four minutes later Whitehaven pulled back. Aiye was stopped close to the line by the Hunslet defence, but a quick pass gave Lloyd the chance to score. With a conversion by Brockie, the score moved to 10-12.
Once again Hunslet put good pressure on the Whitehaven defence, but both sides were making errors. Keinhorst looked to have scored for Hunslet, but was adjudged to have knocked on as he grounded the ball. The first half ended with the visitors ahead 10-12.
Whitehaven extended their lead early in the second half with a soft try from Hepi. Brocklebank converted from in front of the posts and took the score to 10-18.
The Hawks replied quickly with Mvududu scoring, but Brown again missed the afters. The score was 14-18 after 46 minutes.
Hunslet scored again three minutes with a break down the right. Calvert made a last ditch tackle for Whitehaven, but Briscoe was able to unload to Watson who scored. This time Brown made the conversion and the Hawks took the lead for the second time in the match, 20-18 after 49 minutes.
The momentum was now with the home team who made it three tries in 8 minutes when Flanagan scored. Another good kick took Hunslet’s lead to 26-18.
The Hawks were able to see out the game, but not to score again. Whitehaven were suffering after several injuries during the game.
The win gives Hunslet gives 6 points and moves them up to ninth above Workington who lost today. Hunslet’s next game is against Dewsbury Rams next week, followed by a trip to Workington on 26 April.
This report was put together with help from Tom Carlisle of the News & Star.
Hunslet Hawks: Watson, Duckworth, Briscoe, Maun, Barnett; Kain, Brown; Mulhern, Lee, Brennan, Keinhorst, Martin, Mackay. Subs: Flanagan, Mvududu, Haley, Lyons
Whitehaven: Lepori, Burns, Bannister, Parker, Calvert; Aiye, Brocklebank; Davies, Coyle, Chapelhow, Lloyd, McAvoy, Allen. Subs: Hepi, Brooks, Newton, Fox
Attendance: 539
