Halifax Panthers score 20 unanswered second half points against Barrow Raiders to make it three wins on the bounce

Fax stormed into a 14-0 lead after only 20 minutes thanks to tries from Ben Tibbs, James Saltonstall and James Woodburn-Hall. But tries from Shane Toal and Luke Cresswell got the visitors right back into the contest, 14-12, at the break.

However, after a dramatic start to the second half saw Tibbs go over for his second and Barrow reduced to 12 men, Fax regained control to win 38-12 and leave a three-point gap over the Raiders in the table.

And while Fax remain 10th, they are now certainly looking up towards the play-offs, rather than back down towards the Championship trap door.

Liam Finn, who said that a win would put his side “back in the mix” made three changes to the 17 which beat York Knights last Sunday which made it successive league victories for the first time in 2024. Out went Ben Littlewood, Kai Morgan and in came Tibbs and club captain Adam O’Brien from injury, and Keelan Foster made his debut for his hometown club after signing from Doncaster on deadline day.

Before Fax’s impressive start, it was the visitors who showed an early threat after taking advantage of the home side being caught offside in the opening 25 seconds.

Ben Crooks had to kick to safety after a teasing grubber behind the sticks but Fax defended successive sets well as the light-footed Woodburn-Hall brilliantly avoided another goal-line drop-out.

Tibbs also displayed great footwork, and power, with a couple of brilliant carries to get Fax on the front foot. And that’s where they stayed after a Louis Jouffret high bomb was mishandled by Cresswell and the Panthers went over from the resulting goal-line-drop-out, Tibbs touching down for his seventh try of the season in the eighth minute after great link-up play by Joe Keyes and Woodburn-Hall.

The kick to restart the game went straight out on the full as Barrow’s bright start was a distant memory.

Fax were in full throttle mode as Saltonstall glided over after receiving a fabulously-timed pass by Keyes for an 8-0 lead.

The West Yorkshire sunshine was clearly shining on the Panthers as the brilliant Woodburn-Hall produced a mazy run to get them high up the pitch before the equally impressive Keyes nailed a superb 40-20 kick.

You could tell Fax had hit some form. There was a spring in their step in every move in their attempt to make it three wins on the spin. And it was soon try number three of the afternoon as Keyes and Jouffret combined to allow Woodburn-Hall, on the overlap, to find a gap to make it double figures for tries in 2024. Jouffret made his first kick to make it 14-0.

The home side, in the ascendancy, tried to kick on but a succession of errors, including an incorrect play-the-ball, a high tackle and a knock-on, allowed the Raiders back into the contest.

And within 30 seconds of the unfortunate Jouffret making that knock-on, with Fax pushing for a 20-0 lead, Toal intercepted a pass to run 60 metres unopposed to get it back to 14-6.

If the home fans were left stunned by that, the Shay was truly silenced just two minutes later when Cresswell crashed over from close range following a move which included two neat offloads to make it 14-12.

This mini-comeback shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise considering Barrow’s eye-catching recovery from a 24-8 deficit at home to Bradford Bulls last Sunday to draw 24-24.

The half-time hooter was needed by Fax.

You sensed there may have been some strong words from Finn at the break. If so, Fax had been listening intently as Tibbs dived over in the corner within the opening seconds of the second half.

The try sparked a flashpoint which resulted in Brett Carter being sent to the sin bin and Delaine Gittens-Bedward red carded. That left the visitors down to 12 men for the remainder of the game, and down to 11 men for the next ten minutes.

The only points Fax could muster in that period was a Jouffret penalty to extend their lead to 20-12. They then had a great chance to put the game to bed when Tibbs was determined to go for his hat-trick despite Saltonstall waiting patiently for a pass which did not come.

On the other wing, Charlie Graham showed his defensive qualities to keep out a rare second half Barrow attack on his own.

But with the visitors starting to see a bit more of the ball, a fifth try was needed for Halifax. And it came through Keyes who intercepted a Barrow pass on the halfway line.

At 26-12, the crucial two points were almost certainly destined for Finn’s men but they made sure when Keyes’ lofted kick was touched down by Kavanagh.

There was still time for Graham to power over as Fax romped to a third straight league win in style.

Fax now join Batley Bulldogs, York, Doncaster and Featherstone Rovers in the race for the final play-off spot.

Halifax: Woodburn-Hall, Saltonstall, Tibbs, Crooks, Graham, Jouffret, Keyes, Tangata, Inman, Foster, Kavanagh, Davies, Johnson

Interchanges: O’Brien, Larroyer, Hird, Boyer

Tries: Tibbs (2), Saltonstall, Woodburn-Hall, Keyes, Kavanagh, Graham

Conversions: Jouffret (4)

Penalties: Jouffret

Barrow: Cresswell, Bulman, Broadbent, Clarke, Toal, B Walker, Wood, Gillam, Smith, Bedward. Greenwood, McMillan, Brown

Interchanges: Carter, Wilkinson, T Walker, Pye

Tries: Toal, Cresswell

Conversions: B Walker (2)

Referee: Ryan Cox

Attendance: 1,421