Hunslet pay the price for ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ display admits Gary Thornton

The Parksiders’ hopes of a top-two finish in Betfred League One took a battering when they were beaten 26-12 at home by second-placed Newcastle Thunder, after leading 12-4 at the break.

“It was massively disappointing,” admitted Thornton.

“In the first half the team went out and executed the game plan and it worked for them.

“In the second half they didn’t execute the game plan, gave too penalties away and didn’t respect the ball enough.

“It was a real Jekyll and Hyde performance; in the first half we were the better team, we bombed a few chances and could possibly have been further ahead.

“In the second half when Newcastle stepped up their intensity we couldn’t live with it.”

It was a similar story to the previous home game against another high-flying side, Doncaster, when Hunslet also squandered a half-time lead.

“Lessons weren’t learned from the Doncaster game,” Thornton added.

“There’s issues there, the way we are coming out and playing in the second half.

“I didn’t change my instructions, I said keep doing what you are doing because is it working, but we couldn’t get a foothold in the game and when the momentum swings like that is it hard to get out of it.”

Hunslet were disrupted by injuries before the game, though Thornton stressed that was “not why we lost”.

He confirmed: “Jack Lee failed a fitness test and we lost Zach Braham and Dale Bloomfield on Friday.

“We got James Woodburn-Hall in [on dual-registration from Halifax] and Jimmy Watson had to play as a makeshift winger. There was no choice.”

Watson suffered damage to a finger and Nathan Chappell (nose) and Adam Robinson (knee) both picked up injuries which will be assessed before Sunday’s visit to Coventry Bears.