Swinton’s misery continues as they fall to tenth successive defeat with Halifax loss

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Halifax Panthers recorded their third consecutive victory and gained a buffer from the play-off chasing pack with a 34-4 victory away at Heywood Road against relegation-threatened Swinton Lions.

Scott Grix shined in a professional performance by the Panthers, with Swinton ultimately too frail defensively to cope with their opposition on the day. Despite starting the game well, the home side caused many of their own problems and while 34 points conceded may not seem too drastic, it was the ease with which Halifax were able to carve open the Lions’ defence that will be particularly worrying to head coach Stuart Littler.

Swinton Lions: Mike Butt, Luis Roberts, Rhodri Lloyd, Mitch Cox, Dan Clare, Martyn Ridyard, Jack Hansen, Tom Spencer, Luke Waterworth, Sam Brooks, Will Hope, Nick Gregson, Billy Brickhill 

Interchanges: Paddy Jones, Louis Brogan, Tayler Brown, Deane Meadows 

Halifax Panthers: James Woodburn-Hall, Nick Rawsthorne, Greg Worthington, Zack McComb, Conor McGrath, Liam Harris, Scott Grix, Adam Tangata, Ben Kavanagh, Matt Garside, Gadwin Springer, Brandon Moore, Dan Murray 

Interchanges: Amir Bourouh, Kevin Larroyer, William Calcott, Elliot Morris 

Despite being winless and on the end of some heavy defeats so far this campaign, Swinton have received plaudits for their style of play from many involved in the game. It was imperative that the Lions started their meeting with a strong Halifax opposition well, and they did just that through some aggressive defence, managing to shut their opponents out in the opening stages albeit offering little from an attacking point of view.

That said, there is only ever so much pressure that a defence can withstand and unfortunately for Littler’s men, ‘normal’ service resumed circa the 20-minute-mark, which led to some pretty grim viewing for the home fans but equally joyous viewing for the vocal Halifax following. Gadwin Springer punctured a gaping hole in the Swinton defensive line and offloaded to Ben Kavanagh with the latter being able to shift the ball away to Grix for an easy walk-in finish.

Then, having completed a defensive set, the hosts turned into their own worst enemies, knocking the ball on with their first of seven tackles in close proximity to their own try line. Once again, Grix was the focal point of the Panthers’ attack and threw a sensational dummy to carve out the space for his second try of the game. A successful conversion by Liam Harris left the scores at 12-0, and left the Lions chasing the game just half-an-hour in, an all too familiar feeling in what has been a poor start to the Betfred Champsionship season. 

From there on, the game was only ever going to go one way and when Swinton’s Jack Hansen needlessly dragged down Grix – was chasing his own kick out of hope more than expectation – Halifax were awarded a penalty, giving them the chance for a full set just 10 metres out. Capitalising on the fatigue of the Lions’ defence, Matt Garside sucked in the defenders and distributed the ball out wide to Conor McGrath, who dove in at the corner. 

Halifax head coach Simon Grix (35) is actually the younger brother of star man Scott Grix (37), but having already grabbed a brace, Scott showed no signs of fatigue when he pushed relentlessly to seal a first-half hat trick albeit to no avail. The Irishman did bundle his way over the line with brute force, only to be held up and subsequently spill the ball courtesy of some strong defensive work from Swinton which rewarded them with seven tackles and a rare chance to finally put their marker on the game just before half-time.

Littler will have once again been tearing his hair out though, with his side squandering the ball early on in the set through a knock-on, putting themselves back under the cosh in the process as they had done earlier in the half. And the same result ensued, the visitors adding more points onto the scoreboard, Mcgrath doubling his own try tally shortly before the half-time hooter. James Woodburn-Hall showed his quality by executing a delightful pass to McGrath, who then took advantage of some poor one-on-one defending from Dan Clare. Another conversion had the scores at 0-22 at the interval and left Swinton with next to no chance of earning their first points of the season.

If indeed Swinton were to mount the comeback of all comebacks, then they certainly needed an electric start to the second half. Littler clearly galvanised his team in the dressing room, as the Lions came back out on the front foot, but the positive start had the brakes put on it through yet another individual error. Mitch Cox made a fantastic gain to disorganise the Halifax structure, giving Swinton a huge numerical advantage on the left flank and a try seemed a certainty when the ball found its way to Luke Waterworth, but the Wigan Warriors Academy graduate dropped the ball into touch as he dived over the line.

Everything seemed to be going wrong for Swinton, and this theme continued as they were penalised for illegally stripping the ball in the 52nd minute, a decision that led to them conceding yet another try. The Panthers’ Ben Kavanagh ghosted past numerous Lions’ players as if they weren’t there, and cantered over the line, highlighting exactly why this Swinton side could well be staring relegation in the face. 

28-0 to the good, ‘Fax had started to slow down a little and allowed Swinton in close to the hour-mark for their only points of the game. Simon Grix’s men have already shut out both Newcastle Thunder and Dewsbury Rams this season, but Luis Roberts try stopped that from happening again following a well-worked move. Waterworth perhaps made amends for his earlier error with some terrific handling, along with slick passing by Hansen and Cox, leading to a score in the corner for Luis Roberts.

The wiry young Welshman spent some time out on loan in Spain whilst contracted to the Salford Red Devils, before signing permanently for Swinton earlier this year. He was one of the few bright sparks in an otherwise poor Lions side on the day and was deserving of his try. The conversion was missed however.

Soon after that try, Halifax would add the last points of the game onto the scoreboard with another try and conversion. A plethora of positively bruising carries from Halifax’s Elliot Morris – who came on as an interchange for the partly-injured Springer – were seen throughout the clash. Springer did return to the field in place of Morris but before being withdrawn, the big man bulldozed his way through the Swinton pack once again and grabbed himself an assist to fellow interchange Amir Bourouh. Bourouh’s lightning speed at the ruck allowed him to pick up the ball and dance past the Swinton defence with ease.

The breakdown

Both teams then knew that the game was up and played out a rather tame last 20 minutes, with no further action of note. As the final hooter sounded, a 34-4 triumph was recorded by the travelling Panthers and both sets of players collapsed to the ground, indicative of the contest’s hard-hitting nature. There were some big shots from all involved, and  a lot of running in humid conditions, particularly for Swinton who found themselves chasing the game for the most part.

The Lions came out with a game plan and started very well, but were too focused on trying to sure up their defence that they relinquished their attacking play. Once Halifax did eventually breach the Lions side, the floodgates opened and there were a catalogue of errors from the home side which will have infuriated boss Littler as his side had worked so hard to keep Halifax quiet in the opening 20 minutes, only to have it all undone by individual errors.

Perhaps that is just how it goes for sides who go on to get relegated though. We saw Rochdale go down with just one win in 27 games back in 2019, conceding over 1200 points in the process. There are no suggestions from anyone in the game that Swinton are indeed equally poor, but they were always going to be one of the sides hovering in those bottom four or five places as they just don’t have the resources of the top sides in the Betfred Championship. When you take that into consideration and pair it with the fact that too many of their players are having poor seasons, it is a recipe for disaster. The Lions already find themselves effectively three wins from safety and itt’s hard to see where those points will come from if they defend like they did against Halifax. 

As for the Panthers, this was a game they were expected to win but one that certainly could have been a potential banana skin had they taken it for granted. Simon Grix’s men were professional throughout and showed some of their attacking talents whilst also proving how solid they are defensively, conceding less than 10 points for the fourth time this season. Both Scott Grix and Conor McGrath bagged impressive braces, whilst James Woodburn-Hall looked excellent at full-back.

The Round-Up

Victory at Heywood Road gives sixth-placed Halifax a buffer of two wins over their nearest play-off contenders Widnes Vikings with a trip to fellow Yorkshire outfit Batley Bulldogs to come next week. 

Meanwhile, Swinton remain pointless at the bottom of the table and have now lost 10 league games in a row. It doesn’t get any easier for them, as they travel south to face London Broncos at the Ealing Trailfinders Sports ground.

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