Halifax Panthers seal home tie in play-offs with win at Widnes Vikings

Despite making a number of changes to his side, Simon Grix will have undoubtedly left Merseyside a happy man after his side powered to their first win in Widnes since 2010.

Joe Keyes and Brandon Moore, who have played a pivotal role in Fax’s stellar season, were rested for the Monday night trip as Kyle Wood and Matty Gee moved into the starting 13. Both men were among the try scorers as Fax secured their 20th win of the season.

The Panthers haven’t won as many regular season games in a single campaign since 1990/91. Back then, Halifax finished runners-up in the second division as they earned promotion to the top tier.

While the chances of Fax repeating that feat are slim in 2022, Grix’s side will be intent on utilising their form and causing a few upsets in the upcoming play-offs.

Fax got off to a flyer at the DCBL Stadium as Louis Jouffret dummied his way over the whitewash. The Frenchman had Will Calcott and Ed Barber to thank for the assist as the two forwards combined to open up the Vikings defence.

With Keyes rested, Lachlan Walmsley stepped up for kicking duties and converted the try to make it 6-0.

From that point on it was Widnes who went on the front foot as they searched for an immediate response. However, for every question posed by the Vikings, Fax appeared to have all the answers as they kept the door shut to the frustration of John Kear’s side.

Fax eventually got some respite and they quickly turned defence into attack. Their efforts proved costly for Widnes as Gee capitalised on a solid break from Adam Tangata to get over the tryline.

Despite leading 10-0 at the break, Halifax showed little mercy in the second-half as Tangata scored just four minutes after the restart.

After claiming a last tackle kick, Walmsley sensationally found Cory Aston with an offload before the scrum-half released Tangata for the try. Jouffret took over the kicking duties and added the extras.

With 52 minutes on the clock, Widnes were able to avoid a whitewash as Eribe Doro capitalised on a spill from Walmsley. The prop jumped on the loose ball to put the hosts on the scoreboard.

Nevertheless, Halifax were able to finish the game in style, starting with the tenth try of the season for forward Dan Murray,

Titus Gwaze, who returned from his eight-match suspension, exposed a gap in the Vikings defence before finding Murray with an offload. The 26-year-old then powered over the whitewash before Jouffret made it 22-4 with a successful conversion.

The tries kept on coming in the closing stages as Kyle Wood capitalised on Kevin Larroyer’s offload before sliding over the tryline.

A yellow card for Adam Lawton saw Widnes go down to 12 men for the final three minutes. To make matters worse, Walmsley closed out the contest with his 25th try of the season.