Hunslet Hawks 16 Keighley Cougars 24

COACH Paul March hopes Cougars' impressive victory at Hunslet will silence the critics.

Successive defeats to Doncaster and York had led to grumblings from some fans on social media.

But Charlie Martin and Hamish Barnes both scored twice as Keighley bounced back in style at the South Leeds Stadium.

March, a former player-coach at Hunslet, said: “To come here against a side who have been scoring points and keep them to zero for the first 40 minutes was a massive achievement.

“We let a few tries in during the second half and that came from our lack of composure but the lads have always been unified and had a positive attitude.

“Last Tuesday, the lads sat down and we spoke about being honest with each other and your mate next to you when you’re playing.

“There is a lot of negativity going around but people expect us to perform week in and week out.

“But that confidence came back at Hunslet and hopefully all that negativity will disappear.

“We don’t believe it but if the negativity and the comments keep coming then eventually over time, people will start to believe it. But we haven’t become a bad side overnight and today showed that we still are one of the favourites for promotion.”

Barnes finished off after excellent work from Paul Handforth to open the scoring in the 17th minute.

Fellow centre Martin then doubled Keighley's advantage by going over inside the left channel to cap a delightful handling sequence to make it 12-0 at half-time.

The pair repeated the trick to complete their respective braces early in the second half before Hunslet hit back with three tries in quick succession to ensure a tense finale which saw former Cougars player Jake Normington and Aaron Ollett sinbinned for fighting.

The only change to the 17 from the defeat at York saw prop Ross Peltier earn a place on the bench in place of Sonny Esslemont, who had work commitments.

The Hawks, under the guidance of former Keighley coach Matt Bramald, had won at Cougar Park during pre-season.

But they made an inauspicious start when hooker Jack Lee knocked on and from there Handforth went close before captain James Feather was held up over the line.

Cougars soon led when Scott Law’s big hit on Normington saw the ball run loose to Handforth, who hacked the ball forward and showed intelligence to usher Barnes under the sticks with a superb pass.

Handforth, Adam Brook and Ritchie Hawkyard then all combined inside the left channel and Martin finished off in clinical fashion, with Brook converting both tries to make it 12-0 at the break.

Four minutes after the restart, Handforth’s last-tackle bomb was spilled by Hunslet full back Jimmy Watson and Martin collected possession before scampering clear inside the left channel to score his second.

Peltier, one of several players who had played for both clubs, embarked on a stunning break from inside his own half.

He had done all the hard work and had Martin outside him in support but Peltier’s pass was wayward and the opportunity was spurned.

Still, Cougars soon had their fourth when Handforth and John Oakes combined superbly inside the right channel to send Barnes galloping clear for his second.

Hunslet refused to throw in the towel and Thomas’ superb long pass picked put centre Ayden Faal and he went over for a 58th-minute try.

That breathed new life into Hunslet and they scored again in the 65th minute when prop Matt Carbutt barrelled over the line from close range.

Then Lee went over from acting half with nine minutes remaining and Simon Brown converted two of Hunslet's three tries to cut the visitors' lead to eight points, before Normington and Ollett were shown yellow cards for their role in a mass brawl.

Forward Brendon Rawlins enjoyed an outstanding match while March was delighted to see both his centres score twice.

The Cougars boss added: “I set the boys a challenge to get on top of the Hunslet pack and they came out guns blazing and did that, which allowed our half-backs to play and get plenty of ball to the centres and wingers.”

Hunslet Hawks: Watson 7, Duckworth 6, Faal 7, Mvududu 6, Barnett 6, Brown 6, Thomas 7, Carbutt 7, Lee 6, Reed 6, Waterman 6, Normington 6, Williams 6.

Interchange: Flanagan 6, Buttery 6, Bell 6, Johnson 6.

Keighley Cougars: R Hawkyard 7, Finigan 6, Martin 8, Barnes 6, White 6, Brook 6, Handforth 7, Law 7, Feather 7, Cherryholme 7, Oakes 7, Rawlins 8, Lindsay 6.

Interchange: Bailey 6, Ollett 6, D Hawkyard 6, Peltier 7.