Cue a real sense of deja vu as Rhys Morgan's men once again failed to fuel the optimism and surrendered to a Henley side who were, in truth, there for the taking.

See the slide show from the game.

It would be easy to say that the enforced two week break created a lack of momentum. But that would only be a paper thin and very transparent excuse because the sad fact is that Halifax were found wanting again.
They overcame a largely forgettable first half marred by a bad injury sustained by young winger Ben Mitchell five minutes before the interval - until that point one of Halifax's more potent attacking threats.
Mitchell was left crying out in agony with an ankle problem that saw him helped from the field, driven to hospital and given the "good" news that there was no fracture but ligament damage which will surely rule him out for the remainder of the season.
The second half showed some improvement and Halifax fought back from 14-0 down to trail 14-12, only to wave Henley through for a soft try.
Then, at the death and trailing by just six points, they opted to run the ball following a lineout just yards from the Henley line when a catch and drive would surely have been the better option against a pack weakened by an earlier sin-binning.
The supporters certainly thought so and their groans of disappointment at the final whistle said it all after they had again tried to will the side to victory.
Both sides coughed the ball up in equal measure during an error-littered first half that was intriguing rather than engrossing.
Halifax carved out the first chance when the impressive Matt Harrison, playing where he is most effective at No 8, carried the ball before bringing Joe Knowles into play. He too made good ground before slipping the ball wide to Mitchell who was quickly bundled into touch.
The first signs of Halifax frailty came minutes later when Henley hooker Liam Wordley ghosted through non-existent tackles in centre field and ran a ridiculous distance unchallenged for a front row forward, before shipping a forward pass to winger Chris Simmons who would have enjoyed a clear burst to the line.
Henley continued to make ground with a series of drives which eventually drew Halifax into an infringement. To say Danny Wells's straightforward penalty attempt was embarrassing is an understatement as he scuffed the ball badly and it deflected off the post, barely at crossbar height.
Henley were happy to keep the ball in hand but there was never any real end product with some options wide out being criminally ignored.
The first score, when it finally arrived after 29 minutes, rocked Halifax.
The home side were in the ascendancy, scrum half Ronan Dillon breaking from a quickly-taken tap penalty, but he soon ran out of support on the Henley 22 and was swallowed up.
Henley emerged with the ball and within seconds the speedy Mark Odejobi had raced deep into Halifax territory before off-loading to Chris Simmons, who had an easy run to the line. Wells made amends for his earlier horror by nailing the conversion.
Mitchell suffered his injury attempting to exploit another promising move which ended with a knock on close to the visitors line.
Wells's poor kicking came back to haunt him early in the second half when he miscued another simple attempt in front of the posts after Richard Brown had been penalised.
Little wonder then that stand off Jim Farndon was handed the kicking tee for the next shot after Henley had again prised an opening, despite being a man down after second row Robbie Hurrell had been dispatched for foul play.
Fellow lock Matt Payne broke tackles with ease then brought Wells into play for a try under the posts, Farndon showing his colleague the benefit of accuracy with the boot.
Halifax woke up and at 14-0 down started to repair the damage.
Twice they were held up but the pressure paid off when, from a scrum, Harrison broke from a maul to stretch over leaving Knowles to caress a confident conversion.
The spectators were rubbing their eyes in disbelief a minute later when winger Gareth Brear, on for centre James Endersby, plucked a high hanging clearing kick out of the air and embarked on a quick and mazy run that dissected the Henley defence. Brear then brought Mitchell's replacement, Dave Hall, into play for a fine try wide out.
Knowles's touchline conversion looked to be drifting in but hit the inside of the post and bounced back into the field of play.
A crazy three minute period continued with Iain Gordon seeing a kick charged down deep in his own half only for the ball to roll dead.
But Henley were allowed to establish the upper hand with Payne again breaking tackles and taking the ball to within yards of the Halifax line before handing over to Odejobi, who finished the job, courtesy of a rumbling pack. Farndon converted.
Henley were reduced to 14 men for the second time when Rowan Fuller saw yellow and with the crowd baying for Knowles to take the three points which would give Halifax a bonus point, the full back duly obliged.
Hopes were raised that Halifax , six points adrift, could go on and secure that elusive second win.
Those hopes were raised significantly when, in added time, Gordon launched a massive kick that drew groans when it appeared to be drifting infield, then cheers when the bounce took it out of play within feet of the Henley line.
Spectators streamed to the scene of the lineout, expecting a catch and drive which might have helped seal a dramatic victory.
Instead, Halifax tried to move the ball along the line only to get swallowed up and miss out on their chance of glory.

STARMAN
Matt Harrison is the kind of performer who never knows when he's beaten.
And although results have gone against Halifax this season, you will always find the affable Kiwi putting everything into his performance in an effort to stem the tide.
It would be interesting to see the statistics which show which Halifax player has made the most yards with ball in hand this season because my money would be on Harrison.
Never one to take a backward step, he is strong, determined and particularly effective operating at the back of the scrum. Halifax must wish they had a few more with Harrison's intensity in their ranks. He picks up three points in the season-long competition.
George Jenkins is another player in the same mould - perhaps it is no surprise that he too is a Kiwi.
Although he had a quiet first half by his high standards, Jenkins made up for it in the second period and was a key figure in the pack as Halifax looked to drag themselves back into the game.
Jenkins has deceptive strength and aggression, coupled with a solid technique that coach Rhys Morgan must look to retain come the end of the season.
The final point is difficult to decide. While everybody put in plenty of effort there were, again, few standout performers.
But fullback Joe Knowles did little wrong and has shown great character after mistakes in recent games have cost the side tries.
His positioning was generally sound, he used his pace to break the gain line and set up some decent opportunities while his goalkicking continues to mature, reflecting the amount of practice he puts in.

MATCH FACTS
Halifax: Knowles, Mitchell, Endersby, McGee, Marns, Gordon, Dillon, Blades, Kay, Jenkins, White, Smith, Brown, Lewis, Harrison. Replacements: Hall (Mitchell 36), Townsend (Brown 65), Sanderson, Brear (Endersby 57
Tries: Harrison, Hall
Conversions: Knowles
Penalties: Knowles
Drop goals: None
Yellow cards: None
Red cards: None

Henley: Lambden, Odejobi, Sweeney, Wells, Simmons, Farndon, Gaunt, Le Chevalier, Wordley, Hoskins, Winterbot-tom, Hurrell, Payne, Williams, Archer. Reps: Alexipoulos (Wordley 53), Fuller (Hoskins 53), Hulland, O'Brien
Tries: Simmons, Wells, Odejobi
Conversions: Wells, Farndon (2)
Penalties: None
Drop goals: None
Yellow cards: Hurrell (foul play, 56), Fuller (technical, 77)
Red cards: None

Referee: Ed Turnhill (RFU)

PLAYER POINTS
WORKOUT WAREHOUSE PLAYER OF THE SEASON: 17 Craig Aikman, Matt Harrison; 16 George Jenkins; 13 Gareth Lewis; 11 Joe Knowles; 10 Oli Marns; 6 Dominic Moon; 5 Tom Eaton; 4 Richard Brown; 3 Dave Hall, Danny McGee, James Endersby, Ben Mitchell, Iain Gordon; 2 Richard White, Adam Blades; 1 Phil Skillen, Martin Smith, Gareth Brear.

Click here to read: No tea and sympathy from Rhys