HALIFAX suffered their own nightmare before Christmas as their National Two season hit a new low with this awful defeat against moderate opposition.
Blaydon had failed to win on the road this season, yet they must have thought all of their Christmases had come at once as Halifax showed more generosity than a doting grandparent.
Apart from a brief flurry of activity right at the start, this was a complete non event as far as the home faithful were concerned and the "R" word on most people's lips as they trooped away was not revival, but relegation.
Any side who cannot take advantage of a team reduced to 13 men don't deserve to win - and so it proved with Blaydon overcoming their early double handicap to run out easy victors.
Must win games don't come much more definite than this one and yet a 13th defeat of the season tells its own story.
Halifax were unable to build on a positive start in which they had plenty of the possession but couldn't find the guile or strength to puncture the Blaydon defence.
It seemed scant reward for their efforts when Knowles landed a penalty after Blaydon had been adjudged offside, but hopes were raised when the visitors lost lock Gesinde Eniola to a yellow card for persistent offending after just 14 minutes.
Knowles's second kick doubled the lead and everybody expected Halifax to push on.
Those expectations lifted further when Desmond Patricio followed his second row partner to the sidelines after lashing out.
However, Halifax huffed and puffed with no great conviction and it was Blaydon who scored next, James Kyle landing a penalty after Halifax had been caught offside.
Blaydon's pack duo rejoined the action and one of them, Patricio, made the home side pay for their lack of penetration when, following a kick into the corner in their first real attack, the pack drove him over for an 8-6 lead.
If that knocked the stuffing out of Halifax then worse was to follow. A big hack forward from fullback Ralph Smith saw him race on, kick ahead again and as Knowles came across to try and intercept, supporting centre Martin Shaw scooped up the ball and plunged over, opening up a 13-6 lead at the break.
It took the visitors just five minutes of the second half to increase their lead, Smith being allowed to break following strong early pressure, and that prompted a triple change from Halifax coach Rhys Morgan.
Ben Mitchell, Will Kay and Richard White were withdrawn with Gareth Brear, Rob Townsend and returning lock Martin Smith all entering the fray.
Smith, who has been on loan at Cleckheaton, was given a rousing ovation and it was his determination that sparked hopes of a comeback with a try following a huge drive.
Just before that Halifax had shown signs of hitting back, Brear and Oli Marns having a couple of decent runs while Craig Aikman was harshly pulled up after taking a quick tap penalty too soon for the referee's liking with a clear run to the line ahead of him.
But Halifax conspired to shoot themselves in the foot again.
There seemed little danger when Brear collected the ball, but for some reason he chose to spin a long pass infield which was meat and drink for Blaydon's Eniola and he jogged unhindered to the line, Dan Kyle adding the conversion.
It got worse as eight minutes later Halifax threw the ball away again in front of their own posts and Nick Gandy was able to break some poor tackles to romp in, Dan Kyle again converting.
Trailing 32-11, Halifax heads went down and they had little to offer before they were put out of their misery on full time, Adam Deharty exploiting another gap and showing great pace before swallow-diving over the line, Kyle adding the kick.