Hunslet boss Paul March promised Hawks fans that there would be better to come next season after his young side slipped to a nine-try defeat to Oldham in this Co-operative Championship One elimination semi-final at Boundary Park.
Oldham 54Hunslet Hawks 30* Click here to sign up to free news and sport
email alerts from Middleton Today.Describing Oldham's performance as "fantastic", the Hawks player-coach said: "We saved our worst for last. We have improved week on week since
I've been at the club but we let ourselves down in this one.
* Click here to become a fan of Middleton Today on Facebook."However, we have a lot of young lads in the side and they will get better as time goes on. They will learn lessons and come back better players."
Aiming for their third Grand Final appearance in a row, Oldham produced one of their best performances for several weeks and are now only 80 minutes away from having an opportunity to make amends for final defeats to Featherstone in 2007 and Doncaster in 2008.
* Click here for latest Middleton, Hunslet & Belle Isle news.If they get there they will owe a lot to second-row forward Chris
Baines, whose blistering form in the second half of the season earned him the club's player-of-the-month award for three months in a row as well as selection in the official Co-operative Championship One dream team for 2009.
In this game the former Warrington Wolves youngster landed nine goals and scored four tries for a personal points haul of 34 to equal the club's all-time record for points in a game, set by Andy Ballard with 13 goals and two tries at London Skolars last May.
Oldham led 28-10 at half-time and although Hawks scored first in the second half to cut the deficit to 28-16 with a Michael Brown try, goaled by Stuart Young, Oldham took only three minutes to pick up their scoring momentum again – and from there they never looked back.
March (dissent) and Oldham prop Luke Menzies (fighting) were sin-binned near the end in separate incidents, but Oldham led 52-16 when Hawks lost their player-coach and they already had the tie under lock and key.
Oldham: Reilly; Onyango, Littler,St Hilaire, O'Connor; N Roden, Coyle; Boults, M Roden, Kerr, Goulden, Baines, Lawton. Subs: I'Anson, Menzies, Sykes, Ashe.
Hunslet: Larvin; Reittie, Brown, McHugh, Mark; Weedon, March; Lowe, Chapman, Watson, Dooker, Wabo, Young. Subs: Firm, Helme, Howey, Robinson.
Scorers: Oldham – goals, Baines (9); tries, Baines (4), M Roden (2), O'Connor, Ashe, Coyle. Hunslet – goals, McHugh, Young, Robinson; tries, McHugh, Reittie (2), Brown, Mark, Weedon.
Referee: Jamie Leahy (Dewsbury).
Attendance: 801.
