Rugby League: Hunslet prepare for unlikely promotion

Dewsbury 11 Hunslet 1

HUNSLET, THE "other" club in Leeds, will sit down with the city council today, hoping to thrash out a deal for a pounds 3 expansion of their ground to bring it up to Super League specifications.

If victory in a gripping Northern Ford Premiership Grand Final at Headingley on Saturday was hard fought, then their next opponents might prove even more implacable.

"When we moved to the South Leeds Stadium, we were promised that it would always come up to what was required for rugby league," said Hunslet's chairman, Grahame Liles.

The club's application for Super League membership has been submitted and, if the council declines to come up with the millions, Hunslet will look at the possibilities of playing on other grounds - perhaps including Headingley.

"I've shown my ambition and the players have shown theirs," David Plange, the Hunslet coach, said. "The one thing I was always sure of was that the side was not lacking in character."

Hunslet showed that by fighting back after Dewsbury, never quite at their best, threatened to take control in the first half. With the scores level, they then won the title, the trophy and the chance to open negotiations with those who will determine their next step through a rare drop goal from their second-rower, Jamie Leighton.

"The ball went to the wrong person - or the right person, whatever way you look at it," said Plange. "He was big enough to take on the responsibility."

Dewsbury's coach, Neil Kelly, conceded that the one point gave Hunslet a win they just about deserved and wished them well in the argument that will be settled over the next month. "I said all along that the team that won it should go up and I've not changed my mind," he said.

Dewsbury: Graham; Godfrey, Evans, O'Meara, Flynn; Agar, Eaton; Boothroyd, Delaney, Long, Spink, Haigh, Ball. Substitutes used: Williams, Richardson, Hicks, Medley.

Hunslet: Fatnowna; Ross, Irwin, Cook, Higgins; Vassilakopoulos, Tawhai; Hayes, Pachniuk, Pryce, Wilson, Leighton, St Hilaire. Substitutes used: Coyle, Kennedy, Thackray, Baker.

Referee: S Ganson (St Helens).