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Halifax v Featherstone Rovers: Fax suffer late heartbreak
Halifax let victory slip from their grasp after scoring three tries in the opening quarter against Featherstone before going on to lose 22-20.
The opening stages were a real battle of attrition until Ben Black sent up a kick that bounced off the top of the bar befire being shovelled behind for a goalline drop out.
And from the next attack, Mark Gleeson darted over from close range with Lee Paterson goaling for 6-0.
It got even better for Fax in the 14th minute when Dominic Maloney crashed onto Sean Penkywicz's perfectly weighted pass to score next to the posts for Paterson to convert.
James Haley was next to cross, diving over in the corner after Fax had turned defence into attack with Penkywicz interception which saw him race 80 metres before he was caught.
Paterson made it three from three with the boot as he nailed the touchline conversion.
Fax should have scored again with seven minutes of the first half remaining after Andy Bowman had jinked though the Rovers defence, but his pass to Paul Smith went to ground.
And there was a let off a few minutes later when, from a Rovers scrum 20 metres from the Fax line, Andy Kirk spilled the ball with ths line at his mercy.
Fax survived early second half pressure which saw Ben Black tackled behind his own try line, Said Tamghart easing their worries with a one-on-one steal from Andy Kain.
Rovers eventualy opened their account in the 52nd minute after a break from Kyle Briggs. They worked the ball to the left for Matty Dale to go over.
Three minutes later Andy Kain picked up from acting half back to dart over next to the posts for a try converted by Briggs.
And when Tony Tonks crashed over udner the posts in the 63rd minute, moments after Fax had been pinned for offside, Stuart Dickens landed the conversion that made it 18-16.
Paterson's long range penalty, after a 67th minute spear tackle on Bob Beswick, eased the pressure.
But Featherstone were not finished and when Jack Lee crashed over next to the posts in the final minute it levelled the scores with Dickens kicking the winning conversion.
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Weather for Halifax
Tuesday 07 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -6 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: East
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Sunny
Temperature: -4 C to -1 C
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