Fax bounce back with big win over London Broncos

Halifax bounced back in style from their loss to Toulouse with a high quality performance to beat London Broncos 19-6 at the Shay.

The visitors, one of the form teams in the Championship so far, led 6-4 at one stage in the first half, but trailed 8-6 at the interval and finished well beaten by a ruthlessly determined Fax line up.

Boss Richard Marshall had called up three Salford players on dual registration - Jake Bibby, Josh Wood and Ryan Lannon - and recalled half back Gareth Moore after three games out of the side.

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And Moore provided the gamebreaking moment with a second half interception that put Fax into an 18-6 lead as they finished the game firmly on the front foot.

The home side had taken a sixth minute lead when half back Gareth Moore’s kick created a try for centre Steve Tyrer, who ran across the London defence to score in the corner.

Tyrer’s conversion drifted wide and the home side’s advantage lasted until the 20th minute when a super short pass from the Australian half back Jarrod Sammut carved out a touchdown for London centre Ben Hellewell.

Sammut’s kick left London leading 6-4 and although the home side went close, twice through winger James Saltonstall and again through Tyrer, they could not breach a high quality defence.

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But with London’s committment to pushing the pass ending in a steady stream of errors as half time approached, Fax finally broke through just before the hooter, impressive back rower Simon Grix surging over in right hand corner.

Tyrer’s kick drifted just wide again, leaving Fax with an 8-6 interval lead that they preserved immediately after the break with back to back try saving tackles as the Broncos came flying out of the blocks.

With the rain starting to fall, both teams focused on completing sets and finding territory and it was London who cracked first, conceding back to back penalties that allowed Tyrer to kick Fax 10-6 ahead with 23 minutes remaining.

Then, with 20 minutes to go, Moore stole into the London line and picked off a pass on half way, scooting away to score under the posts, Tyrer putting the home side 16-6 up.

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Another Tyrer penalty edged the scoreboard out to 18-6, with Moore adding a drop goal with 10 minutes remaining as the score ticked out to 19-6.

Halifax: Sharp; Saltonstall, Tyrer, Woodburn-Hall, Bibby; Murrell, Moore; Boyle, Kaye, Cahalane, Grady, Grix, Fairbank

London: Walker; Williams, Hellewell, Purtell, Kear; Sammut, Barthau; Roqica, Pointer, Ioane, Harrison, Garside, Pitts. Subs: Dixon, Adebiyi, Evans, Offerdahl

Referee: G. Hewer