Hunslet RLFC 42-16 Cornwall RLFC
Hunslet kept up the pace in the Betfred League 1 Championship with a hard fought home win against tough tackling Cornwall at the South Leeds Stadium yesterday (26 May 2024).
The Parksiders are in fourth place dropping behind Rochdale on points difference, but the Lancastrians have played a game more.
After a two week break since that tremendous win at Keighley, Hunslet took some time to get going, but the visitors certainly weren’t the push overs of past seasons.
Hunslet’s early play was marked with handling errors and Cornwall had the first chance when a kick behind Jack Render was chased down well by Nichol, but the winger knocked on with the line begging. He didn’t make the same mistake on the 15th minute when the same play led to a try in the right corner. 0-4 and a good start by Cornwall.
Hunslet were taking some time getting going and Jimmy Watson had to save a certain try covering well behind his line, but with the game a quarter gone Hunslet’s forwards started to make inroads and chances presented themselves.
Jude Ferreira was pulled back for a forward pass and Cam Berry looked to have scored but knocked-on over the line. It just wasn’t happening and Hunslet started to force the pass.
On a rare foray into Hunslet’s half Jordan Syme had to pull off a great tackle to stop Cornwall going further ahead, but with time running out in the half a tip tackle on Jack Render got Hunslet up-field and impressive substitute Ethan O’Hanlon crashed over as the hooter sounded. 6-4 at the break.
The second half started with both teams making handling errors. Jack Render intercepted and raced away, he fed Jude Ferreira but the centre was tackled short, then Cornwall made a break after Hunslet had dropped the ball.
On 47 minutes though the visitors regained the lead when former Hunslet man Nathan Conroy snuck over and with Brown converting Cornwall had the edge 6-10.
This seemed to spark Hunslet and only three minutes later, after pegging Cornwall back from the kick-off, Josh Jordan-Roberts proved too strong close to the line and with Beharrell converting Hunslet regained the lead 12-10.
After coming off the bench Ethan O’Hanlon had proved a real handful for the Choughs’ defence, and the big forward chalked his second try close in when a loose pass to on-loan man Matty Fletcher was scooped up to score. 18-10
Although Hunslet hadn’t been fluent with the ball their forwards had done the hard work. Cornwall had tackled well but were now tiring and chances started to come for the Parksiders.
Jude Ferreira leapt high to field an unlikely Michael Knowles kick to make it 24-10 and the game looked safe for Hunslet. Cornwall weren’t finished yet though and from a loose attacking pass Black sprinted the full length of the field to score. 24-16 with 15 minutes to play.
But it was Hunslet who finished the stronger. Cornwall conceded penalties and the pressure told as centre Will Adams finished off a move for his first try in Hunslet colours on 73 minutes, and 6 minutes later he bagged another off a superb Michael Knowles ball. 36-16 and game over.
Now well into injury time the icing on the cake came from a Jack Render special. The winger leaping high to take a Beharrell kick to dive over in the corner. Beharrell converting from the touch line giving him a 7/7 conversion rate.
It wasn’t a classic Hunslet performance, but Cornwall looked a solid defensive side at times and were hard to break down. O’Hanlon (Phoenix Supporters MOM) and Knowles were strong in their spells for the Parksiders and Matty Beharrell won the ‘Tricks of the Trade’ sponsors Man of the Match for his marshalling the team around the field and goal kicking.
It was also nice to see on-loan Will Adams bag a couple of tries after missing out over recent weeks with a shoulder injury.
Hunslet travel to Workington Town next Sunday (2 June) in what should be a cracker.
Teams:
Hunslet RLFC: Watson, Scurr, Adams, Ferreira, Render, Punton, Beharrell, Hallas, Whitmore, Knowles, Jordan-Roberts, Levy, Syme, Berry, Fletcher, O’Hanlon, Coventry, Goddard.
Cornwall RLFC: Brown, Nichol, Small, Boardman, Aaronson, Black, Rusling, Rhodes, Collins, Boots, Cullen, Simpson, Weetman, Lloyd, Campbell, Conroy, Ross.
Main photo: O’Hanlon powers over. Credit: Craig Irvine
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