Posted on Tuesday, 18 March 2008 10:24AM by

All credit to Hunslet, but I’m afraid today was a huge disappointment to me, both on the pitch and off. The players hardly covered themselves with glory, but nor did certain elements of this rather meagre crowd. Supporters have every right to voice genuine criticism, but when some of that abuse is directed towards family members then it strays into the realms of the unacceptable. At least, it does in my book, and I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling that way. Admittedly the squad has under performed over the past few weeks, but believe me, nobody knows that better than the players and the coaching staff, and both elements will continue to work towards putting things right. I honestly believe we have a stronger squad than last season, but then so do most of the other sides in N.L.1. It’s going to be a long, hard season, but give us a break; we haven’t even kicked a ball in anger yet. We’ve come a long way over the past few years, from near extinction to comparative safety, and I for one am more than willing to give the people who have done so much, the chance to take us another step down a very rocky road. In order to do that though, we’ll need to rid ourselves of what is fast becoming our customary poor start. Two minutes in and it was Keegan Hirst back to haunt us, bursting down the middle and handing on to scrum half Kevin Till who scampered over for the opening try. Matt Bramald added the conversion and we were 6 points down. It took us 10 minutes to get back on level terms, loose forward Alex Bretherton cutting through to score a good try. Pat Walker added the conversion, continuing his good form with the boot. It was already clear that this wasn’t one of our better days and around the 20-minute mark the Hawks were back in front again. This time it was stand-off Stuart Young who darted through under the posts for Bramald to add the conversion. Rams 6- Hawks 12, and the stage was set for the reappearance of Richard Chapman for his first game at Rams stadium in almost a year. Needless to say, the South Stand soon voiced their approval. All afternoon the Rams were giving away too many penalties, and from right in front of the posts it was inevitable that Bramald would make them pay. With half time looming it needed a last, desperate effort to get Dewsbury back into the game Almost inevitably it came from Richard Chapman forcing his way over on the left for a good try. Just as welcome was another excellent conversion from Pat Walker and half time arrived with the score at 12-14. It could have been a lot worse. The second half got off to a good start with centre Chris Langley driving over on the right for his 6th try in 7 starts this season. Not a bad return when you consider that Bryn Powell was our top try scorer last season with 11. On this occasion Walker’s kick went wide, but for the first time the Rams had their noses in front. Instead of lying down, the Hawks continued to scrap for everything. Two penalties in quick succession marched them down the field, where a third allowed Bramald to level the scores once more. Rams were making too many mistakes. Passes were going astray, and all too often we were reduced to playing one-man football. Dominic Maloney made a couple of good breaks, but on both occasions found a lack of support when another score might have killed off the game. Instead it was a high tackle from the Hawks that decided the outcome, with Pat Walker slotting over the resulting penalty. Even now we continued to make mistakes, and a break down the main stand side almost snatched the points for the Hawks at the death. The Rams defence held, but only at the expense of yet another penalty. This time though Bramald was unable to convert and the Rams held out for a victory they barely deserved. Still, a win’s a win, and there will be occasions when we’ll lose games we deserved to win. That’s the nature of sport, and a lot of credit must go to Hunslet. On this showing it won’t be long before they start winning again, and that’s some achievement given the fact that their very existence seemed in doubt only a matter of months ago. TEAMS :- DEWSBURY RAMS. Mark Field; Kane Epati; Chris Langley; Andrew Bostock; Austin Buchanan; Patrick Walker; Dean Lawford; Aaron Trinder; Liam Finn; Dominic Maloney; Martin Robinson; Alex Bretherton. Subs:- Richard Chapman; Liam Crawley; Joe Helme; Jake Wilson. HUNSLET HAWKS:- Matt Bramald; Luke Rayner; Eddy Mack; Andy Robinson; Stuart Dunbar; Stuart Young; Kevin Till; Keegan Hirst; Mark Moxon; Wayne Freeman; Ben Walkin; Jamie Lester; Karl Gunney. Subs:- Luke Blake; Paul Robinson; Glen Pennington; Liam Watling. Referee:- Mr. D Merrick. Attendance:- 740 Man of the Match - Pat Walker. Match report by Ossy