HUNSLET 12 HALIFAX PANTHERS 46
PHIL HODGSON, South Leeds Stadium, Friday
THIS top-versus-bottom clash went to script as Halifax made it six wins from six this season and left Hunslet still searching for their first points of the campaign.
Hunslet pushed the unbeaten leaders hard in the first half but the visitors’ class ultimately told with six tries to one in a second period in which the hosts were, for a spell, reduced to eleven men through a couple of sin-binnings.
The clash made history as the first Championship fixture refereed by a woman, and Tara Jones impressively emphasised her control from the start while the home side, who were promoted last season through their play-off win at Swinton, served notice that they were intent on breaking their duck.
With scrum-half Lee Gaskell bringing a kicking game of high quality to bear – and the Panthers’ bustling hooker Tom Inman threatening in kind – there was little between the teams in the opening quarter.
Indeed anyone watching the sides for the first time would have been hard pressed to identify which was at the top of the table and which was at the bottom.
The south Leeds outfit, in fact, established a lead that was far from undeserved when, on 17 minutes, Gaskell’s trademark grubber gave two home players – Billy Jowitt and Ethan Wood – the chance to pounce.
Second-rower Wood edged Jowitt to the touchdown, while Jowitt immediately got on the scoresheet, adding the extras from wide out.
Halifax wasted no time in their response, mounting an attack which was completed by winger Ben Tibbs.
Fullback Louis Jouffret, who supplied the final pass, landed a superb touchline conversion and, as the half-hour approached, substitute Jacob Fairbank scooped up a loose ball to race 50 metres.
Although overhauled by the home cover, Fairbank had earned Fax a place in Hunslet’s 20 and Tibbs turned from scorer to creator, drifting across field to set up the position for James Saltonstall to dive in at the corner.
Jouffret couldn’t improve but was on target in the last act of the opening period, landing a penalty from 35 yards when Hunslet were sanctioned for a high tackle to forge a 12-6 interval lead.
Halifax established a real grip on the resumption. Two successive penalties took the visitors close to the home line, where James Woodburn-Hall sent Adam Tangata through with a sweet pass.
Jouffret’s goal forged what looked like an unassailable 18-6 lead, and so it proved. Saltonstall and Brad Graham added further touchdowns by the hour, with Jouffret supplying the final pass both times and adding each goal from wide out.
With 13 minutes left, Woodburn-Hall glided through from 15 metres, Jouffret again adding the extras from out wide, and Hunslet’s woes deepened when Jordan Syme was sin-binned a minute later for persistent offending.
After Jack Hansen had darted through, the hosts were reduced to eleven men when Keelan Foster copped a yellow card for a late challenge.
Graham grabbed his second try as time began to run out, Jouffret booting his seventh goal from nine attempts to complete Halifax’s eleventh successive win over the south Leeds side.
Hunslet had the last word when Gaskell, who had been so impressive in the first half but lacked any sort of platform in the second period, put in a sharp kick for Jowitt to touch down, the latter improving. But there was no denying Halifax’s superiority.
GAMESTAR: Halifax hooker Tom Inman was particularly influential in a hard-fought first half.
GAMEBREAKER: Louis Jouffret’s last-gasp penalty in the first half, plus his conversion of Adam Tangata’s try early in the second period, transformed a tenuous 10-6 lead into a commanding 18-6 cushion.
MATCHFACTS
HUNSLET
1 Jimmy Watson
21 Coby Nichol
4 Billy Jowitt
19 Liam Welham
2 Mackenzie Scurr
6 Lachlan Hanneghan
38 Lee Gaskell
31 Kevin Larroyer
14 Cam Berry
17 Keelan Foster
22 Harrison Gilmore
11 Ethan Wood
10 Matty Fletcher
Subs (all used)
13 Jordan Syme
26 Ethan O’Hanlon
27 Sam Campbell
36 McKenzie Yei
Tries: Wood (17), Jowitt (78)
Goals: Jowitt 2/2
Sin bin: Syme (68) – persistent offending, Foster (70) – late tackle
PANTHERS
1 Louis Jouffret
2 Ben Tibbs
18 Owen Restall
20 Brad Graham
5 James Saltonstall
6 James Woodburn-Hall
7 Jack Hansen
16 Ronan Dixon
14 Tom Inman
8 Brandon Douglas
11 Owen McCarron
12 Adam Tangata
15 Connor Davies
Subs (all used)
9 Adam O’Brien
19 Zack McComb
13 Jacob Fairbank
10 Joe Hird
Tries: Tibbs (19), Saltonstall (30, 56), Tangata (42), Graham (60, 75), Woodburn-Hall (66), Hansen (69)
Goals: Jouffret 7/9
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 6-6, 6-10, 6-12; 6-18, 6-22, 6-28, 6-34, 6-40, 6-46, 12-46
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Hunslet: Lee Gaskell; Panthers: Tom Inman
Penalty count: 2-13
Half-time: 6-12
Referee: Tara Jones
Attendance: 1,095
