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Union Matters: Last day win was scant consolation
SOME people enjoy saving the best until last. In Halifax RUFC's case, the best was all the more sweeter as their final game victory over Harrogate finally brought them a much welcomed first victory in all competitions this season.
It was, to say the least, a remarkable end to their National Three (North) season that had promised much and delivered very little.
It was also the second successive season that Halifax had managed to sign off their home fixtures with a win.
On April 18 2008 it was Waterloo who became only Halifax's second National Two victims after Southend.
It was a scenario so corny that if had been made into a movie people would have been hurling missiles at the screen.
But to those who had been involved since the first day defeat by Preston Grasshoppers will say it was scant reward for a season in which the players, while not technically perfect, put their hearts and souls into their performances and suffered some cruel luck along the way.
Hopes were high that Halifax could at least hold their own in their new surroundings following relegation as Rhys Morgan and assistant Dave Harrison assembled a squad brimming with experience of rugby at their level and higher.
However, the loss of key players such as Gareth Lewis, ironically a member of the Harrogate side beaten by Halifax last Tuesday night, Tom Eaton, Joe Knowles and Kiwi forward and player of the season Matt Harrison proved too difficult to replace.
With no wins and some scratchy displays in the opening weeks, Morgan increasingly looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights.
His tenure finally came to an end following a humiliating 62-7 defeat at Kendal in the National Trophy - the committee deciding that they had seen enough.
That robbed Morgan of a return to one of his former club's, Harrogate, with Harrison taking overall charge for the first time at Claro Road with Craig Emmerson as his assistant.
Although the performance showed a marked improvement sadly the result was the same.
Hopes soared the following week when high-flying Macclesfield were held 13-13 in a thriller at Ovenden Park.
However, talk of a revival were quickly nipped in the bud as Halifax returned to Kendal and were beaten again and November ended with a hugely-disappointing first half showing against fellow strugglers Darlington Mowden Park that left Halifax too much to do despite a mightily-improved second half performance.
A pattern had developed and Halifax pretty much stuck to it. Good periods were ultimately spoiled by errors, weak tackling and the inability to play for a full 80 minutes
It did not help that the squad was already being stretched to the limit with injuries and with finances also beginning to deteriorate Harrison found it difficult to bring in fresh recruits.
The question of finances came to a head at the turn of the year with the players suffering a 30 per cent cut in wages.
To their credit, and almost to a man, the players accepted it and got on with trying to repair a season that was looking likely to end in relegation with three months of the campaign left.
However, the problems on the pitch would not go away and games that should have been won, the home clash with Darlington MP springs to mind, were thrown away and even Harrison was starting to doubt his ability following a 67-22 home hammering by near neighbours Bradford & Bingley.
As the season drew to a conclusion the chronic lack of personnel started to cause some alarm to the extent that Harrison was forced to pull in three players from the third team to fulfil the fixture at Leicester Lions.
The 83-3 defeat told its own story as did the following 48-7 reversal at Preston with the coach again struggling to overcome injury and unavailability problems.
It all came to a head on the penultimate weekend when Halifax bowed to the inevitable and forfeited their game at Loughborough Students, Harrison stating simply "We just didn't have enough bodies standing."
That obviously raised fears ahead of Tuesday's final game, despite pledges from Harrison's walking wounded that they would turn out come hell or high water.
And they were true to their word, producing a final flourish that was as spirited as it was welcome raising the prospect that things might just have turned out differently had Harrison had his full first team squad to select from.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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