Hunslet 'heading in right direction' after win over Rochdale Hornets coach Gary Thornton insists

Alex Brown scored two tries on his Hunslet debut agianst Rochdale. Picture c/o Hunslet RLFC.

The Parksiders lost three of their opening four games in Betfred League One, but finally found their form to beat Rochdale Hornets 36-22 last weekend.

Hunslet were without stand-off Simon Brown and hooker Vila Halafihi through injury and half-back Dom Brambani did not feature in the second half, because of a calf muscle problem.

On-loan hooker Ben Davies missed out after a positive test for Covid-19, but Thornton was delighted with new signings Alex Brown and Zach Braham.

Hunslet visit London Skolars on Saturday and Thornton stressed: “It’s important we maintain the form we showed against Hornets.”

He said: “The return of [full-back] Jimmy Watson after injury was one of several key factors and our back-three of Jimmy and [wingers] Alex Brown and Wayne Reittie ensured we had a good platform throughout.

“They all made good ground with impressive kick-returns and that meant we were playing in the right areas of the pitch.”

Thornton added: “We also had massive input up front from our props Zach Braham and Alex Rowe.

“Zach was terrific in his first match back at Hunslet following his return from Keighley, while Rowie really rolled back the years and was good value for his two touchdowns.”

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