IF you like tries, you would have loved this.
Halifax and Keighley shared 18 of them at an unseasonally sundrenched Cougar Park, Matt Calland's visitors claiming 11 of them as they made it two out of two in the Northern Rail Cup.
See the slide show from the game.Tries on the left, tries on the right, tries from close range, tries from long range - you name it, Fax or the Cougars put them on a plate for the crowd of 1,358 yesterday afternoon.
Apparently, the scoreboard operator retired hurt with cramp midway through the second half and was last seen muttering something about "basketball".
With Sean Penkywicz buzzing around in midfield, on his way to finishing with an eventual hat trick, there were times when the visitors looked simply irresistible with the ball in hand, even with a team showing half a dozen changes to the one that eased home so impressively at Workington last weekend.
Penkywicz aside, there were plenty of solid individual performances for Calland to admire, with the Smiths - Andy and Paul - playing strongly at wing and loose forward respectively, Mick Govin and Graham Holroyd dovetailing nicely at half back and on trial hooker Janan Billings adding some zip in midfield.
The flip side, of course, were the seven tries Keighley managed to score, leaving Calland distinctly non-plussed by his side's defensive qualities in the process.
By and large, Fax's rearguard, so solid at Derwent Park, albeit in the face of less attacking threat, was tissue paper thin for most of the match, with Cougars stand off Jon Presley helping himself to a 14-minute second half hat trick as the visitors failed to build on a commanding 40-12 half time advantage.
Perhaps it shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise though, because, as it turned out, the opening quarter of an hour just about summed up the whole match.
Fax had started like a house on fire, romping to a 10-0 lead in seven minutes, with Damian Gibson touching down Holroyd's chip ahead, Holroyd kicking the first of his 10 conversions, and James Haley showing signs of his old sparkle as he finished well from Govin's pass.
Having assumed control though, Fax promptly relinquished it, with hooker James Feather and centre George Raynor touching down in short order and Richard Knight kicking the Cougars 12-10 ahead.
And with that, the die was cast for a rollercoaster afternoon.
Fax promptly grabbed their opponents by the scruff of the neck again, posting five more tries before the break as they began to sparkle going forward.
Paul Smith crashed over from a perfect Penkywicz pass, before the little hooker darted over twice in quick succession, the second after a thunderous run from young centre Mike Ratu.
Holroyd then waltzed under the post with imperious ease, before Billings scooted over a minute before half time.
The second half cricket score that Fax should have run up never materialised, through a combination of Keighley's resistance and the visitors' own inability to keep their foot on the gas.
The Cougars roared out of the traps after the break, with Fax old boy Andy Shickell reaching out to score before Presley, scarcely sighted in the first 40, twice fooled the defence to cut the deficit to 40-30.
Govin's try, a virtual carbon copy of last week's effort at Workington, restored Fax's supremacy at 46-30, before Penkywicz completed his treble and took his side through the half century with 20 minutes remaining.
Presley's own hat trick try quickly followed, with Richard Varkulis and Andy Smith both powering in on the right as Fax continued to shift the ball at every opportunity.
Keighley had the last word, wingman Sam Gardner scoring from Danny Jones' trademark cut out pass.
MATCHFACTSKeighley: Gavin Duffy; Sam Gardner, Oliver Pursglove, George Raynor, James Hutchinson; Jon Presley, Danny Jones; Andy Shickell, James Feather, Neil Lowe, Will Cartledge, Richard Knight, Chris Redfearn. Subs: Jermaine Wray, Dave Norcross, Brendon Rawlings, Luke Sutton.
Tries: Gardner, Raynor, Presley (3), Shickell, Feather
Goals: Knight (6)
Halifax: Damian Gibson; Andy Smith, James Haley, Mike Ratu, Lee Greenwood; Graham Holroyd, Mick Govin; Dana Wilson, Sean Penkywicz, David Wrench, Andy Gorski, Richard Varkulis, Paul Smith.
Subs: Janan Billings, David Larder, Danny Heaton, Frank Watene.
Tries: Gibson, A. Smith, Haley, Holroyd, Govin, Penkywicz (3), Varkulis, P. Smith, Billings.
Goals: Holroyd (10)
Referee: Dave Merrick (Castleford)
Attendance: 1,358
STARMANIt was evident for much of last year, and it's just as plain now: Sean Penkywicz is one of the finest players in the National League.
The little hooker grabbed a hat trick of tries at Cougar Park yesterday afternoon, even in a team performance that was probably less complete than Matt Calland would have liked.
Penkywicz's speed off the mark makes him a handful at any level, and his power and zip were just too much for the Cougars yesterday afternoon.
With Mick Govin and Graham Holroyd proving options on the right and left, Penkywicz was left to wreak havoc in the middle of the park and profited doing exactly what Calland had asked him to do: take the defence on at every opportunity.
Not too far behind Penkywicz was another player with a top flight pedigree, Paul Smith.
The rangy backrower was typically industrious in attack and defence, scoring a fine try in the first half.
There are no shortage of contenders for Fax's loose forward shirt, but, at the moment, Smith is holding the whip hand.
The final point goes to Andy Smith, who carried on where left he off at Workington with 80 minutes of hard graft in the middle of the park.
For a wingman, that's quite an achievement and Smith's muscular approach is probably the biggest single plus from Fax's opening two games.
PLAYER POINTSAndy Smith 4, Sean Penkywicz 3, Paul Smith 2, Mick Govin 2, Paul Southern 1
STAT ATTACKHalifaxFirst half
Completions:14
Penalties: 7
Percentage possession: 54
Second half
Completions: 15
Penalties: 2
Percentage possession: 47
KeighleyFirst half
Completions: 10
Penalties: 8
Percentage possession: 46
Second half
Completions: 16
Penalties: 7
Percentage possession: 53
YOU SAID:Scored some good tries Fax, but the defence looked a bit dodgy! Ackers
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Sean shines as Fax bag 11
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