After defeating the British Police and Pilkington Recs in the opening two rounds, Conference League Premier Division Siddal had their sights set on a Betfred Challenge Cup upset as they travelled to Hunslet to take on the Parksiders from Betfred Championship One, in front of the BBC cameras and with a fourth-round game away at either the Swinton Lions or North Wales Crusaders as the prize on offer.
With entry just a fiver on the gate, the home side were hoping for a bumper crowd to cheer them to victory on the road to Tottenham as they looked to avoid slipping on a proverbial banana skin, and avoiding a cup upset. Hunslet are twice winners, the last time in 1934, but Siddal have never made it past the fourth-round.
Siddal looked to have had the best possible opening to the game when Sam Walsh went in down the wing on three minutes, but the referee ruled out the try for a foot in touch. Three minutes later Hunslet thought they were in but they too were stopped by the referees whistle, this time for offside.
On nine the deadlock was broken with Jordan Paga finding room on the overlap to outpace the Siddal defence and ground in the right-hand corner. The touchline conversion was missed, the home side 4-0 ahead.
On twenty-five Ian Davies was red carded for a tackle to the head to make the task for Siddal a magnitude harder. Within two minutes Hunslet were in again with full-back Jimmy Watson grounding David Gibbons´ kick and quickly making the extra man count. Mallinson added the conversion for 10-0.
There were four minutes on the second half clock when Paga pounced on a delightful Mallinson grubber to get a hand on the ball to ground before the Siddal defence could clear their lines. Mallinson was unable to add the conversion from wide.
Siddal finally opened their account of fifty when Jamie Greenwood scooted from acting half back to force the ball on the ground from close. The conversion was missed but the arrears were back down to ten points. There was still some hope for the amateurs.
Paga completed his hat-trick with eight minutes remaining, again taking a long ball to go in down the right wing and ground in the corner. Sanderson added the conversion from wide to ensure it would be Hunslet who progressed into the next round.
An outrageous dummy from Mallinson on seventy-eight saw Hunslet register their fifth try of the afternoon and when Sanderson added a second conversion for 26-4 the score line made it look far more comfortable than it had been for the Championship One side.
On the final hooter Paga again found a way over down the right wing for his fourth try of the afternoon against an exhausted Siddal defence. This time Sanderson was unable to add the conversion from wide.
The twelve men of Siddal ran their blood to water but were never really in the game against a Hunslet side who made the most of their opportunities and kept the score board moving to ensure their progress into the fourth round. Siddal never took a backward step and can be proud of their efforts.
Hunslet: Watson (T), Paga (4T), Render, Mossop, Hartley, Gibbons, Mallinson (T, G), Hallas, Whiteley, Straughier, Jordan-Roberts, Summers, Syme. Subs: Sanderson (2G), O´Hanlon, Moorhouse, Horn.
Siddal: Walker, Walsh, Chatterton, Hosty, Kelly, Pogson, Ackroyd, Williams, Greenwood (T), Smithies, Hinsley, West, Milnes. Subs: Georgiou, Ramsden, Davies (SO on 25), O´Keefe.
Half-Time: 10-0.
Full-Time: 30-4.
Score Progression: 4-0, (SO), 8-0, 10-0 : HT : 14-0, 14-4, 18-4. 20-4, 24-4, 26-4, 30-4 : FT .
Referee: Andrew Sweet.
