RUGBY LEAGUE: COVENTRY Bears travelled to Hunslet for the second time in the space of four months on Sunday afternoon hoping to reverse the 34-0 thrashing they suffered in February.
However there was no such success for Tom Tsang’s side as they lost 56-24, though an improved performance up front was evident for all to see.
Debut appearances were handed to Jordan Gale and Luke Frixou as Bears took to the South Leeds Stadium.
Hunslet were determined to do well as they pressed to secure a spot in the playoffs, and they were quickly over the line with ten minutes gone.
Their lead was doubled on 20 minutes to make it 12-0, though this appeared to galvanise Bears as Jamahl Hunte went over the line to register Coventry’s first points – Brad Delaney successfully converted.
Alex Beddows then crossed for another converted try for Coventry to level to scores at 12 apiece.
Two tries for Hunslet prior to the end of the first half handed the home side the advantage though as they led 20-12 at half time.
Jamahl Hunte scored his second try of the match moments into the second half before Hunslet stepped their game up with two further tries to kill off any chance of a Bears comeback.
James Guertjens did manage to pull back the deficit with a try, making it 32-24, but the last ten minutes saw the home side run riot.
They scored four more tries to give a scoreline which masked the fact Bears had been highly competitive for 60 minutes of the game.
Head coach Tom Tsang said: “We entered the game pretty beaten up after recent tough matches.
“We only had 17 fit players to select from, including two players we signed this week.
“We flagged a bit in the second half and gave them way too much cheap possession with naive penalties which meant an unbalanced amount of defending for us to do.
“That weight of possession against us told and we let in some pretty soft tries in the end.
“It really did sum up our season, as we showed we could compete for long stretches of the game, but our own ill-discipline was our undoing.”
The Bears travel to Newcastle Thunder next weekend with major doubts regarding the fitness of players Billy Gaylor, Mikey Russell and Alex Beddows
Bears are next in action at home on Sunday, July 16, when they welcome North Wales Crusaders to the Butts Park Arena.
