Hunslet moving in right direction says coach Gary Thornton

Jordan Andrade, left, gained some valuable game time. Picture by Tony Johnson.

Hunslet had to cope with the withdrawal of several players the day before the game, plus travel issues on the journey to Llanelli.

They then lost winger Niall Walker to a head injury in the first tackle of the game and Harvey Hallas who sustained a cut below an eye.

The Parksiders overcame that to build a 26-0 half-time lead against Betfred League One's bottom club and though the points were shared in the second period, Thornton felt it was a case of “job done”.

He said: “We had only 15 fit players in the second half.

“One of those was Jordan Andrade, who I’d wanted to have plenty of game time.

“He played the full 40 minutes, which will have done him a lot of good.”

Nathan Conroy (concussion) and Alex Brown (dead leg) both dropped out before the game and Thornton admitted: “Following the late withdrawals, our side on Friday evening was very different to what it had been on Friday morning.

“But we were always in control against a Raiders side that did look good at times, with some high-profile rugby union signings beginning to make their mark.

“We were very impressive in the first half especially, when we might have scored a few more points.

“I’m pleased we are continuing to improve overall and it was great to get Brambani back, fully recovered from his calf injury.”

The Welsh outfit fought back after the break, but Thornton - whose side visit Coventry Bears on Sunday - added: “It was understandable, in the circumstances, we couldn’t continue scoring at the same rate as we had in the first half, especially as we’d had to reshuffle following the loss of a winger, which necessitated forwards moving into the backs.

“Aaron Wood [Raiders’ coach] told me afterwards that that was West Wales’ best display of the season and the only real disappointment was that both their tries came from our errors, so that’s something we’ll be addressing in training this week.”

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