Hunslet ARLFC collected their second piece of silverware in a week as they beat Fryston in the BARLA National Cup curtain raiser.
They claimed the 1973 Cup in a dominant showing at Castleford, scoring nine tries in total. Fryston hadn't played for four weeks and Hunslet ARLFC were backing up their NCRL Premier Division Grand Final success, and it showed early on. It was a slow and mistake-ridden start for both sides with only one completion in the first five minutes, before Hunslet and particularly Man of the Match Craig McShane found their groove.
It was Caelum Jordan that opened the scoring after eight minutes with Harry Shackleton producing a defence-splitting pass.
Craig McShane grabbed the first of his double after 20 minutes as the ball fizzed wide between Jack McShane, Lewis Heckford and Josh McLelland before Harry Dodd trapped a Macauley Penney kick and ran 65 metres for Shackleton to add his only goal. When Ryan Morley added Hunslet's fourth try it was 18-0 after 32 minutes.
Fryston continued to battle away with Mark Castle, skipper Rhys Bonser and hooker Brad Moules working hard while fullback Louie Tomlinson offered plenty at the back. A thunderous charge by David Norton set the position for Calvin Sandhu to thread a kick behind the defence and Ryan Joseph pounced only for the score to be disallowed by an offside call.
Hunslet finished the half strongly with Craig McShane seeing an effort overturned on the stroke of half-time.
A Brandon Ward attempted intercept almost came up trumps for Fryston in the first minute of the second half before McShane, who switched to fullback in the new half, added the first try of the second period, scoring five minutes after the break. Heckford was unable to add the extras while Tomlinson saw a second no-try ruled for Fryston.
Hunslet added their sixth try just before the hour when Heckford kicked over for Alfie Goddard to ground, and the halfback goaled. Mark Poppleton then picked up an injury for Fryston and had to leave the field, the Premier Division side took full advantage, quickly spreading play down the left for Harry Dodd to send Jordan in for his second try.
Jamie Field was sinbinned for an attempted trip after 73 minutes but Hunslet finished strongly with two more tries. Joe Abson scored after a Jack McShane kick while in the last minute teenage substitute Ralph Normington showed good strength to touch down and convert to bring up the final score of 42-0.
Full-time: Hunslet ARLFC 42 Fryston Warriors 0
Hunslet ARLFC: Josh McLelland, Jake Dearden, Alfie Goddard, Craig McShane, Caelum Jordan; Lewis Heckford, Harry Shackleton; Junior Rowse, Jack McShane, Jamie Field, Shane Jackson, Harry Dodd, McKenzie Haigh. Subs: Ryan Morley, Ralph Normington, Josh Jordan-Roberts, Joe Abson
Tries: Jordan (8, 67), C McShane (20, 45), Dodd (29), Morley (32), Goddard (59), Abson (75), Normington (79)
Goals: Shackleton 1/4, Heckford 1/3, Jordan 0/1, Normington 1/1
Sinbin: Field (73 - attempted trip)
Fryston Warriors: Louie Tomlinson, Max Lambourne, Mark Poppleton, Tom Wright, Brandon Ward; Calvin Sandhu, Macauley Penney, Mark Castle, Brad Moules, Rhys Bonser, Ryan Smith, Ryan Joseph, Connor Jordan. Subs: Reuben Walker, Jack Robinson, Jake Humphries, David Norton
By Dave Parkinson
Photo Credit: 13 Pro-Am Community RL
