Hunslet: '˜Right attitude' reaps victory reward

Hunslet ended a run of three successive league and cup defeats by winning 24-16 at Oldham two days ago.

They had been embarrassed 38-22 at home by Keighley Cougars in their previous Betfred League One fixture and Thornton said: “That still smarts, when we can go and play like that at Oldham and win.”

But he insisted: “I was really pleased.

“It still doesn’t make up for the defeat by Keighley, but to go there and win against a top team, I was delighted.”

Of his team’s turnaround in fortunes, Thornton said: “It was the attitude.

“I did see an improvement in performance against Bradford in the Cup on Easter Monday, I saw some spirit and we’ve had some heart to hearts and team meetings.

“Duane Straugheir has done a great job as captain, along with the leadership group, of pulling everybody together and making everybody accountable.

“We had a bit of a reality check against Keighley and on Sunday we had a really good attitude to everything we did.

“The 3-g pitch, the fast track, helped us and we were able to play a bit of rugby, but what laid the platform was a fantastic defensive effort.”