Featherstone Rovers hold off second half fightback from Halifax Panthers

Converted first half tries from the in-form Brad Day and Connor Barley, along with a penalty from Ben Reynolds gave Fev a 14-0 half-time lead. Ben Kavanagh responded for Fax right at the start of the second period but the visitors held on for their eighth win of the season.

After a five-match losing streak was emphatically ended in the 66-0 victory against Whitehaven last week, Featherstone seemingly continued from where they left off against a Fax outfit which, thanks to this 14-6 defeat, remains joint-second bottom in the Championship table.

It was supposed to be the day where rugby league came home to The Shay for Fax after a 43-day absence following improvement works to the pitch. Instead, it turned out to be a happy trip back home across West Yorkshire for the visitors - their first away victory in the league in nearly two months.

And, after a tight start in which both sides completed their opening couple of sets, Greg Minikin was released by Caleb Aekins, who started in the halves, but he slipped at the crucial moment when he looked destined to make more valuable metres down the left.

The slip didn’t matter though as Day, who scored a hat-trick in Fev’s big win in Round 14, went over from close range moments later.

Fax tried to respond as a Rovers error allowed the first attacking scrum of the afternoon to the home side but Ben Crooks, returning to the side after a long injury lay-off, knocked on. The Panthers looked to be in again but a play-the-ball error by Jacob Fairbank let Fev off the hook.

A moment of magic from former Fax player Greg Eden, who left for the Millennium Stadium only a mere weeks ago, saw the winger, who took Aekins’ more natural position at full-back, superbly run across the line deep inside his own half before unleashing a great looping pass for Minikin but he was stopped by Zack McComb.

The next tackle, however, saw Featherstone extend their lead to 8-0 with a Reynolds penalty after a high shot by Corey Johnson.

Johnson then combined well with Louis Jouffret down the right and Crooks and Charlie Graham linked up delightfully down the other flank but Fev defended well on both occasions.

A massive hit from Kevin Larroyer on Brad England gave the visitors another penalty, which was quickly followed by another one as frustration levels around The Shay, largely aimed towards the referee, rose as decisions went against the home side.

And Fev punished them clinically as Barley stretched over for a 14-0 half-time lead.

But Fax have been known as a second half team this season, and they lived up to that tag with a try within the first four minutes of the restart.

Crooks was tackled high in the air which led to more pressure and allowed Kavanagh to dive over to get Halifax on the scoreboard.

The game descended into a rather scrappy affair as England was sin-binned for lifting his opponent on 50 minutes but Fax failed to make the man advantage count as Jacob Fairbank joined England in the bin six minutes later.

Fax defended for their lives to keep the score at 14-6 but Liam Finn’s side couldn’t score at the other end to set up a grandstand finish, with the defeat leaving them 11th in the table.

Halifax: Woodburn-Hall, Barber, McComb, Crooks, Graham, Jouffret, Keyes, Tangata, Johnson, Fairbank, Kavanagh, Gee, Davies

Interchanges: Inman, Lannon, Larroyer, Boyer

Tries: Kavanagh

Conversions: Jouffret

Featherstone: Eden, Gale, Barley, Minikin, Wynne, Aekins, Reynolds, Massey, Jones, Kamano, Day, Hardcastle, Silk

Interchanges: Bowes, Nakubuwai, England, Turner

Tries: Day, Barley

Conversions: Reynolds (2)

Penalties: Reynolds

Referee: Liam Rush

Attendance: 1,760