Fax march on after dominating second half at Dewsbury

Richard Marshall’s side, chasing a top four Championship finish, led 12-10 at the break without every having really found their feet in attack.

But a second half reshuffle, which saw captain Scott Murrell slot in at hooker, and a reduced error count proved too much for Neil Kelly’s side, who were out of the game when their visitors led 30-10 after 66 minutes.

The home side had almost scored after a couple of minutes of play, with only a low tackle from Will Sharp cutting winger Alex Brown down short of the line.

Gradually though, the visitors began to turn the screw and it was no surprise when Steve Tyrer dummied inside Brown to score after 12 minutes.

The centre converted his own try from the touchline for a 6-0 lead and Fax almost added to their lead on 20 minutes, Shane Grady having a score ruled out for offside from a Connor Robinson kick.

But with Fax making some increasingly frustrating errors, the Rams found a way back into the game when the impressive substitute Daniel Igbinedion forced his way over for an unconverted try.

More errors led to more pressure and it was no real surprise when hooker Sam Day dived over on the half hour, putting the Rams 10-6 ahead.

Scott Murrell ensured Fax went to the break with the lead, floating a long ball out to James Saltonstall, who scored in the corner, Tyrer again on target from the touchline for a 12-10 scoreline.

Fax lost centre Ben Heaton to the sin bin just before the break, the referee brandishing a yellow card for what looked nothing more than a solid shot on Igbinedion.

Ironically, the visitors flourished while the centre was cooling his heels after the restart, Adam Tangata storming over within three minutes of the restart and Tyrer adding another touchline kick to open up an 18-10 lead.

And when Tyrer scored himself, taking a bullet pass from Connor Robinson, the visitors were 22-10 up eight minutes into the second half.

They turned the screw when Heaton returned, the centre scoring himself from Murrell’s pass before Robinson profited from a Will Sharp break to score and push the lead out to 30-10.

James Glover and Dale Morton grabbed late consolation efforts for the Rams, sandwiching an Ed Barber touchdown for Halifax.

Dewsbury: Jowitt; Morton, Squires, Walshaw, Brown; Glover, Speakman; Walker, Hemingway, Teanby, T. Adamson, L. Adamson, Brown. Subs: Day, Douglas, Igbinedion, Sheriffe.

Halifax: Sharp; Saltonstall, Tyrer, Heaton, Worrincy; Murrell, Robinson; Tangata, Kaye, Cahalane, Grady, Barber, Fairbank. Subs: Morris, Boyle, Moore, Johnston.

Referee: Andrew Sweet