A Ben Crooks try five minutes from time saw Halifax Panthers edge out Swinton Lions 30-22 in a pulsating end-to-end encounter at the Shay.
On the back of two stellar wins at Midlands Hurricanes and Keighley Cougars, Swinton started brightly again and nearly went ahead in the third minute when Louie Roberts knocked on when trying to score on the right.
But the Panthers forced a goal-line drop-out on five minutes and, within a minute, Adam O’Brien put his side ahead by scoring by the posts and Darius Carter added the conversion.
Vila Halafihi and Jacob Fairbank were both held up after some good Lions defence before Jordy Gibson dribbled the ball through the Panthers defence to score on the left and he added the conversion to level the scores.
Panthers then hit back with two tries in three minutes, then Ben Tibbs scored in the right corner, and this was followed by a Will Calcott effort by the posts. Carter converted one of them. Aaron Willis then lost the ball going for the corner four minutes from the break.
Panthers made a good start to the second half with pressure on the line, but again the defence held out. The Lions hit back when Wigan loanee Mike Porter crashed over by the posts following some good pressure and Gibson converted.
Panthers stretched their lead on fifty-one minutes when former Lions loanee Leon Cowen went over from short range and Carter again converted. The Lions then levelled the scores with two tries in four minutes, with Reece Briers firstly floating a kick to the corner and Pat Ah Van jumped highest to score in the corner, and then some good pressure from a goal-line drop-out saw Fin Irwin score on the left and Gibson converted one of them.
Panthers then regained the lead on sixty-four minutes after a penalty at the play the ball and Carter added the points.
It was then end-to-end in the final ten minutes as both sides tried to secure a victory, and it was the Panthers that did this when Crooks found a way to cross for the try with five minutes left and Carter converted again to secure victory.
Match report by Ian Rigg, featured image supplied by MKS Photography.
