Action photos and reaction: Liam Finn ‘happy’ as in-form Halifax Panthers make it wins on the spin in Championship against Barrow Raiders

Halifax and league-winners-in-waiting Wakefield Trinity are the only two sides that have won their last three outings. And Fax completed the hat-trick of wins on a sundrenched Sunday at The Shay thanks to a double from the returning Ben Tibbs and tries from James Saltonstall, James Woodburn-Hall, Joe Keyes, Ben Kavanagh and Charlie Graham.

That only tells half of the story of a dramatic game though with Barrow battling back from a 14-0 deficit to only trail 14-12 at half-time before a red card and a sin-binning for the visitors, following a brawl after Tibbs’ second try moments after the restart, handed the initiative back to the Panthers, who went onto claim a 38-12 triumph.

Assessing the game, Finn said:

“We started the game really well and started with real control. We were on the front foot and playing with plenty of patience and getting rewarded at the back end of sets.

“We got a 14-point lead, I wouldn’t say we imploded but the intercept was a big change in momentum. We then conceded another loose try and went in 14-12 at half-time. Barrow are a real tough, resilient team who never goes away. We knew that, but we killed ourselves and brought them back into the game after looking after the ball for the first 20 minutes and finishing eight out of ten sets.

“We made an error in the last eight sets of the first half which tells its own story.”

He went on: “We started the second half well, then there was the shemozzle in the bottom corner. They went down to 11 men with the sending off and the sin bin and we went a little bit erratic and made it a loose game.

“Once we went another score up we calmed it down a little bit and came out on the right side of the score. I am happy to come out on the right side of it and make it three in a row but it was full of looseness.”

On the fracas which resulted in Brett Carter being sent to the sin bin and Delaine Gittens-Bedward red carded, Finn commented:

“It was a strange one because there was nothing it. Both cards deserved to be yellow.

“But if you’re not on the field of play and you get involved you are asking to be sent off.

“There’s an argument for both.”

Finn’s side only scored two points during the period Barrow were down to 11 men but Louis Jouffret’s penalty took Fax’s lead to a two-score game.

On the decision to take the two, and his side’s performance in the second half with the numerical advantage, the head coach said:

“It’s a six-point game at that time and you take yourself out to two scores, minimum, and it gives you that little bit of insurance and breathing space.

“It was just the sensible option.

“When the other team goes down to 12 men you kind of change how you play. You get to the middle and say, ‘They’ll have four defenders that side and five defenders this side.’ But why are we changing how we play just because they’ve lost men and playing a way we haven’t really practised?

“The best way to deal with that is to keep playing how you’re playing. There’s going to be space somewhere because they are down two men. That was a big lesson for us.

“Ultimately we just got a little bit loose and erratic. Fortunately we defended pretty well in that period, and defended well throughout.”

It was a third win on the bounce for Fax, who are now four points behind sixth-placed Featherstone Rovers in the final play-off spot.

Take a look at these photos from Halifax Panthers’ 38-12 victory over Barrow Raiders at The Shay. Photos taken by Simon Hall.