Halifax Panthers 22-26 Bradford Bulls: Fax edged out in thrilling Easter Monday derby in front of a bumper crowd at The Shay

In terrible conditions in front of a bumper crowd of more than 3,000 at The Shay, tries from Sam Walters on debut, Jordan Baldwinson, Keiran Gill and Tom Holmes gave the Bulls their first derby win over the Panthers in their last five meetings.

Despite tries from Brandon Moore, Lachlan Walmsley and a brace from Jake Maizen, the Panthers just couldn’t seem to get a foothold in the game.

Penalties played their part throughout the match, with handling errors and ten penalties against Halifax giving Bradford every opportunity to keep applying the pressure.

The visitors took the first half spoils with a 12-20 lead going into the sheds at half time.

The second half started as scrappy as the first, both teams jostling for possession and pressure to be the first to get those vital first points of the half.

It was the home team who got those valuable four points on the board after a repeat of last year's Easter derby, going down to 12 men as Ben Kavanagh was sent to the sin bin following a hard challenge on full back Tom Holmes.

Panthers’ fans had flashbacks of that game again as Maizen ran 90 metres for his second try of the match, bringing the Panthers within four points of the Bulls with five minutes to go.

It was heart in mouth time for all fans in the final two minutes of the game. It looked like Walmsley was going to go the full length to take the game to 26-26 but a little slip slowed him down and gave the chasing defenders a chance to keep him out.

Halifax: J Woodburn-Hall, L Walmsley, J Maizen, Z McComb, J Saltonstall, L Jouffrett, J Keyes, W Maher, B Moore, D Murray, B Kavanagh, M Gee, A Tangata. Interchange: T Inman, R Lannon, W Colcott, E Doro.

Bradford: T Holmes, B Blackmore, J Arundel, K Gill, L Roberts, D Patton, J Lilley, J Baldwinson, S Walters, J Donaldson, K Appo, B Thompson. Interchange: E Scurr, J Bibby, AJ Wallace, B Jowitt.

Attendance: 3,053.