BetFred League 1 – 12 June 2021
Lomdon Skolars 10 Hunslet62
With spectators at a game at New River Stadium for the first time since last March, Skolars put in a disappointing performance as they conceded twelve tries to a side they had been level with in the league before the game.
Skolars had enjoyed the early stages of the game with Lameck Juma making a strong run down the left before the side forced a goal-line drop-out. They then moved the ball quickly to the left again and Juma again burst through the defence, this time touching down with Neil Thorman converting
Hunslet had also had to contend with an injury to their full-back Jimmy Watson, who was carried off in the first minute of the match. However, from the kick-off one of many handling errors gave the visitors an attacking opportunity and Tom Ashton took advantage. He scored again two minutes later after one of many barnstorming runs from prop Zac Braham and when Alex Rowe set up David Gibbon’s try, Hunslet had scored three times without Skolars touching the ball.
They earned a penalty but it didn’t find touch and Hunslet soon increased their lead. Vila Halafihi scored two tries from dummy half, either side of a second try by Gibbons.
When a dropped ball by Skolars saw Simon Brown score just before the break, Hunslet were 6-36 ahead. They continued to dominate in the second half, with Sion Jones being their fourth player to score a brace of tries.
Skolars finally enjoyed a short period of attack. James Tyas’ break saw Oli Leyland put in a grubber kick, but it took a deflection off the post and he couldn’t regather the ball. From their next set in possession, Leyland set off a move to the left for Greg Johnson to score in the corner.
However, it wasn’t long before the South Leeds side were adding to their tally. Halafihi competed his hat-trick, Matty Chrimes also scoring. After Mike Greenhalgh received a yellow card for his part in a fight, Hunslet scored in the last minute through Rowe, with Gibbons adding his seventh conversion.
LONDON SKOLARS
1 Jacob Thomas
25 Dalton Grant
4 Kam Peace-Paul
3 Jonah Varela
5 Greg Johnson
6 Oli Leyland
7 Mike Bishay
8 Judd Greenhalgh
9 Neil Thorman
10 James Tyas
19 Paulos Latu
12 Lameck Juma
21 Mike Greenhalgh
Subs (all used)
9 Tom Firth
13 Christian Gale
8 Eddie Mbaraga
15 Malikhi Lloyd-Jones
Tries: Juma (6), Johnson (61)
Goals: Thorman 1/2
HUNSLET
1 Jimmy Watson
20 Niall Walker
5 Matty Chrimes
4 Tom Ashton
13 Alex Brown
6 Simon Brown
24 David Gibbons
27 Zac Braham
9 Vila Halafihi
15 Alex Rowe
11 Brad Hey
12 Duanne Straugheir
16 Michael Wood
Subs (all used)
14 Nathan Conroy
26 Sion Jones
21 Jo McClean
7 Lewis Wryay
Tries: Ashton (9,11), Gibbons (15.27), Halafihi (25,30,69), Brown (40), Jones (42,48), Chrimes (72), Rowe (80)
Goals: Brown 0/2, Gibbon 7/10
Penalty count: 4-7
Half-time: 6-36
Referee: Kevin Moore
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 6-4, 6-6. 6-14, 6-20, 6-26. 6-32, 6-36; 6-42, 6-48, 1048, 10-52, 10-56 10-62
