Scott grabs hat-trick in ruthless Halifax win

​Aahren Scott led the try scoring with a hat-trick and he broke the deadlock with his first, showing a clean pair of heels to his opposite number to score in the corner. Calum Bacon added the conversion.

Willie Woodhead finished off a magnificent team try and Bacon added the goal to make it 14-0 in as many minutes.

Barnsley started taking the game to Halifax and they got onto the scoresheet with a penalty but Halifax were in no mood to led them back in the game, a decisive break ending with Louis Key dotting down for another converted try.

The visitors ended the first half on a high, reducing the arrears to 21-10 with a converted try but Halifax dominated the scoreboard in the second half, stand-in captain Kyle Carter breaking through several tackles to score the try of the match, again converted.

The Halifax scrum was becoming the dominant force and they forced a string of penalties as Barnsley wilted under the pressure.

Following one such penalty, Chris Clough took it on himself to kick wide and Louis Key ran back inside his opposite number to score the fifth try for Halifax.

Scott crossed the whitewash twice to complete his hat-trick and Carter put the icing on the cake with a superb solo try that rounded-off an impressive performance from the home side.

Second-placed Halifax will hope to maintain this level of rugby for the rest of the season as they chase promotion.