Panthers fight back to go into Eliminator with momentum

Kyle Eastmond’s men trailed 16-0 at the break but turned Sunday’s game on its head to secure fifth place in the table and book a trip to Oldham in this week’s hotly-anticipated clash at Boundary Park.

The one-sided first half belonged to Doncaster, who broke the deadlock with only four minutes played when Edene Gebbie crashed over in the corner.

Panthers’ errors were punished again just six minutes later. Connor Robinson’s kick through fell into the hands of Watson Boas and he touched down for a score that Robinson improved to make it 10-0.

Johnston was then involved in Dons’ third try, sending Sam Smeaton over the whitewash and adding another conversion to the tally to put the hosts in control and 16-0 up at half time.

Halifax fans may have feared the worst going into the second half but their side were transformed on the resumption and the fight-back started with only five minutes played.

Smeaton knocked-on and Alfie Johnson pounced on the loose ball before offloading to Ben Tibbs who raced clear of the covering defence to open Panthers’ account with a try improved by Jack Hansen.

Ben Johnston thought he had scored for the hosts only to see the referee rule a forward pass in the build-up and Halifax rubbed salt into the wounds with their second try.

Hansen’s grubber rebounded off the goal post and Maxime Jobe reacted to touch-down. Louis Jouffret’s conversion cut the deficit to four points and the game was now back in the balance.

Jouffret was in the spotlight once again when Fax hit the front on the hour mark, showing great footwork to step his way over from close range. Hansen’s successful kick edged the visitors 18-16 ahead.

And the onslaught continued just two minutes later, Hansen’s kick finding its way to Charlie Graham, who crossed for a Hansen-improved try with 12 minutes of the contest remaining.

The hosts looked for a response but the Halifax defence remained resolute in closing out the game and securing victory on the final day of the regular season.

Doncaster: Hall, Lyne, Boas, Hey, Gebbie, Johnston, Robinson, Pauli, Burns, Matagi, Jones, Smeaton, Hepi. Subs: Knowles, Misky, Johnson, Mafi.

Panthers: Restall, Tibbs, Johnson, C Graham, Saltonstall, Jouffret, Hansen, McCarron, Halafihi, Dixon, Tangata, B Graham, Davies. Subs: O’Brien, Fairbank, Jobe, McComb.