Hunslet excited by Doncaster challenge

Hunslet coach Matt Bramald says his team is keen to make amends against Doncaster in the Challenge Cup after being thrashed by Barrow.

The Hawks went down 40-6 to Barrow last weekend. They take on the Dons tonight at home.

“We were never in the game last week,” Bramald said.

“In the first half we lost too many rucks, too many contacts and gave too many penalties away. One thing leads to another and at 28-0 at half-time it was a long way back and too much for us.

“Doncaster beat Keighley in a high scoring game last week but this is a game that can’t come soon enough for our boys. It’s been a tough week, the review of the game was pretty searching and we had a pretty stiff training session after.

“But we’ve put that to bed now and are looking forward to Friday. We need to bounce back and if we do get somewhere near our best, I think it will be a real competitive game and we’ll give Doncaster a real good run for their money.”

Doncaster coach Gary Thornton was delighted with his side’s 44-28 victory at Keighley.

“We were delighted. It was a tough encounter,” he said.

“They are everybody’s favourites to do well and win the league. We knew it was going to be a tough place to go. I didn’t think we played at our best to be honest but it’s all about results and getting two points away at Keighley was fantastic at this stage of the season.

“I’m not reading too much into Hunslet’s result at Barrow. Barrow is a tough place to go and they’ve certainly strengthened and are a decent side. A couple of weeks earlier Hunslet had put 40-odd points past them in the iPro Sport Cup.

“Hunslet have had a very tough start to the league so I’m not reading too much into it. It’s going to be a tough game for us especially on their own ground.”