Championship rugby for 2025 was at stake for the Swinton Lions and Hunslet as they met in the promotion/relegation play off for an eighty-minute showdown to determine whether the home side would maintain their status or whether the side from West Yorkshire would replace them.

The gulf between the second and third tiers of British rugby league meant that the Lions were strong favourites for the win, it would take a Herculean effort from Hunslet to upset the Championship side and take the prize.

A Sunday evening game, under the glare of the floodlights, promised plenty of needle and an exciting encounter.

A brawl broke out on ten minutes to set the scene for a rough and tough evening for both sides.

Three minutes later Swinton took the lead with Rhys Williams sprinting down the left wing after taking a Jordan Gibson pass and scoring from twenty metres out. Dan Abram was just wide with his touchline conversion attempt.

Within a couple of minutes Swinton should have been in again but Abram took the tackle rather than finding one of the two players supporting his forty metre break downfield with the line open. Hunslet were feeling the pace and up against it.

On eighteen Mitchell Cox did extend the lead after a Jack Stevens kick was palmed back into Cox’s hands for him to sidestep past the Hunslet defence to stretch for the line and score. Abram added the conversion, in off the far post, for a 10-0 lead, the game going to plan for the home side who were simply too quick for the League One side.

With the half running down, Hunslet were desperate for their first points of the game. On thirty-six an intercept from Mackenzie Turner saw the winger run seventy metres to slide over the line and grab a lifeline four-pointer for the visitors. Matty Beharrell added the conversion, and the Swinton lead was down to just four points at the interval.

Hunslet started the second half with a renewed confidence and on forty-four Cam Berry was on hand to take a sensational offload from Sam Hallas to dart five metres and dive over to level the scores. Beharrell smashed the conversion between the uprights, Hunslet into the lead for the first time in the game.

Goddard went close on forty-seven but was tackled just short but on the next play the ball George Flnagan Jnr went from acting half, threw an outrageous dummy to the left and went past the line to ground. Beharrell hit the target again, his third of the night, for an 18-10 lead.

Swinton were right back in the game on fifty-five with Mikey Wood bulldozing his way over the line after taking a short pass. Scoring under the sticks he made the Abram conversion a simple one to reduce the arrears to two points.

Just after the hour mark, Swinton were back in the lead after a brilliant Williams break to the Hunslet twenty. On the last tackle the home side kept the ball alive with Jonny Vaughan finding a gap in the defensive line to make it to the line and stretch to score. Abram was unable to add the conversion, Swinton with a 20-18 lead.

There was five minutes remaining when Hunslet regained the lead and sealed the win. A looping pass from Beharrell found Render who made it five metres and leapt for the corner to ground one handed in spectacular fashion as he hit the corner flag. Beharrell missed his first conversion of the night but Hunslet, against all the odds, had the win and promotion to the Championship.

Hunslet were given no chance of taking the win against Swinton but they defied the pundits to take a deserved win and earn themselves Championship rugby for 2025. Hunslet showed a fighting spirit to twice come from behind to take the win, Swinton crestfallen that they will be playing in the third tier of rugby next season. ‘So We Shall Again’.

Swinton Lions: Abram (2/4 G), Purcell, Vaughan (T), Hatton, Williams (T), Stevens, Gibson, Bennion, Eaves, Houghton, Cooper, Cox (T), Wood (T). Subs: Roby, Cowen, Walker, Case. 18thMan: .

Hunslet: Flanagan Jnr (T), Turner (T), Goddard, Ferreira, Render (T), Knowles, Beharrell (3/4 G), Varr, Whitmore, Fletcher, Jordan-Roberts, Wood, Syme.  Subs: Berry (T), Hallas, Wray, O’Hanlon. 18th Man: .  

Half-Time: 10-6.

Full-Time: 20-22.

Score Progression:  4-0, 8-0, 10-0, 10-4, 10-6 : HT: 10-10, 10-12, 10-16, 10-18, 14-18, 16-18, 20-18, 20-22 :FT.

Lead Exchanges: Swinton – Square – Hunslet – Swinton - Hunslet.

Referee: James Vella.