STANNINGLEY 0 HUNSLET 44
KEITH McGHIE, Arthur Miller Stadium, Saturday
HUNSLET ultimately ran-in eight unanswered tries but are likely to need a much more composed display if they are to offer another Yorkshire outfit, Huddersfield, too much trouble in round three.
Credit must go to lively hosts Stanningley for harrassing their semi-professional visitors but the men in myrtle, flame and white made too many unforced errors, especially in the opening half, to truly claim a commanding victory.
The community club, who came so close to reaching the top level of the amateur game when losing the Grand Final of the old NCL Division One last season, restricted their opponents to just five tries up until the last few minutes when predictable tiredness and more space to play resulted in Kyle Trout’s side adding another 16 points.
Referee Joshua Pemberton branded one red and no fewer than five yellow cards, although it was never that sort of game, and for a few minutes in the closing stages it was eleven men against eleven.
Hunslet’s Matty Dawson-Jones was dismissed for a punching incident amid a 26-man brawl with 13 minutes to play, which also resulted in Billy Jowitt and Jamaine Ruan spending time in the sin bin.
Ruan had only been back a couple of minutes when he saw a second yellow card, while former Hunslet favourite Fraser Stroud and Josh Phillips had also spent ten minutes on the sidelines for earlier offences.
Mo Agoro scored for the Championship side in the opening and closing minute of the first half but brave Stanningley conceded only one more try – when Cam Berry burrowed over from dummy-half – in the opening stanza.
Coby Nichol scored the first of his two tries just after the interval when Lee Gaskell launched a cutting long pass to send him over on the left wing.
The enthusiastically-tackling home side savoured little attacking possession but emerged for their best spell shortly afterwards with Australian Jeremy Wiscombe, off the bench, held up and being the closest they came to breaking their duck.
Phillips stopped another dangerous break from Nichol but held on too long so saw yellow.
With Stanningley again a man down, Nichol and Myles Harrop combined brilliantly for the winter signing from Rochdale to touchdown.
The unexpected punch-up moments later reduced the affair to eleven-a-side for a short spell, and Hunslet posted further tries from Jimmy Watson, Nichol’s second after more good work from Harrop, and Harvey Hallas.
Jowitt finished with five conversions from six attempts and Gaskell added one from two while the former was in the bin.
As approaching a four-figured crowd crammed into the excellent facilities offered by Stanningley, the pitch, heavily doused by the previous two days’ heavy rain, held up commendably, while Hunslet publicly relinquished their right to half of the money from the gate.
Stanningley official Paul Townend made a point of stressing: “We have had a few logistical challenges to overcome during the week but I must praise Hunslet for their assistance in helping overcome them.
“The Championship club, and especially Lynn Robinson (Hunslet’s general manager) and Neil Hampshire (chief executive), couldn’t have been more accommodating and we wish them well against Huddersfield and for the rest of the season.”
GAMESTAR: Myles Harrop scored a try and was involved in another while combining repeatedly with Coby Nichol to torment the right-hand side of the Stanningley defence.
GAMEBREAKER: Mo Agoro’s second try, just before the break, opened a three-score gap which Stanningley, for all their efforts, were always unlikely to close.
MATCHFACTS
STANNINGLEY
7 Luke Townend
2 Mark Shires
3 Jack Sykes
4 Jack Vincent
5 Zack Clayton
13 Fraser Stroud
7 Will Barker
8 Jamaine Ruan
9 Alfie Peach
10 Danny Salkeld
11 Jack Hepworth
12 Nathan Stone
13 Josh Phillips
Subs (all used)
14 Jeremy Wiscombe
20 Jumel Henry
15 Sam Peel
21 Elliot Whitaker
Sin bin: Stroud (21) – indiscipline, Phillips (60) – professional foul, Ruan (67) – fighting, (79) – illegal tackle
HUNSLET
18 Jimmy Watson
5 Mo Agoro
4 Matty Dawson-Jones
3 Myles Harrop
2 Coby Nichol
6 Lee Gaskell
1 Billy Jowitt
8 Harvey Hallas
14 Cam Berry
26 Ethan O’Hanlon
11 Harrison Gilmore
12 Darcy Simpson
13 Eddie Battye
Subs (all used)
10 Keelan Foster
15 Emmerson Whittel
17 Kevin Larroyer
20 Liam Carr
Tries: Agoro (1, 39), Berry (16), Nichol (46, 77), Harrop (62), Watson (75), Hallas (80)
Goals: Jowitt 5/6, Gaskell 1/2
Sin bin: Jowitt (67) – fighting
Dismissal: Dawson-Jones (67) – fighting
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-4, 0-10, 0-16; 0-22, 0-28, 0-34, 0-38, 0-44
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Man of the Match
Stanningley: Alfie Peach; Hunslet: Myles Harrop
Penalty count: 5-7
Half-time: 0-16
Referee: Joshua Pemberton
Attendance: 950