Hunslet produced one of their most dismal displays of the season just at the time when they needed to be at their best.
Hunslet Hawks 6York 34Hawks were outplayed by a slick Knights side who climbed above them into third place in the table.
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email alerts from Middleton Today.Too many Hawks players fell short of their normal form, particularly in the creative areas and there were far too many handling errors.
But the biggest culprit was Neil Lowe who was sent off for kicking within two minutes of coming on as sub and who left his team-mates to struggle in the sun for the last hour.
* Click here for latest Middleton, Hunslet & Belle Isle news.Hunslet's mistakes gave York the lion's share of the ball in the first half and they took full advantage.
The big difference was the York trio of Paul and David March and Adam Mitchell. Between them they not only ran Hunslet ragged but scored four of the six tries with Mitchell kicking five goals.
The other tries came from influential hooker Paul Hughes and winger Tom Staincliffe while Hunslet's only try was scored by Michael Mark shortly before half-time.
He picked up an interception in his own half and outsprinted the Knights defence to dive over and give Darren Robinson the easiest of kicks.
Mark was one of the few Hawks players, along with Nicko Slain and
Nathan Larvin, to be able to look back on the game with any satisfaction.
His try allowed Hunslet to turn round 16-6 behind and they had a short spell of sustained pressure soon after, but were unable to turn it into points.
Hunslet: Larvin, Reitte, Moss, Faal, Mark, Robinson, Moxon, Slain, Chapman, Brook, Dooler, Watson, Wabo. Subs: Redfearn, Lowe, Helme, Firm.
York: Ratcliffe, M Mitchell, Oakes, Clayton, Staincliffe, A Mitchell, P March, Applegarth, Hughes, Sullivan, Kelly, Knight, D March. Subs: Hodgson, Clough, Ross, Hesketh.
Referee: D Merrick
Attendance: 716.