HALIFAX PANTHERS coach Kyle Eastmond thanked the fans who travelled to back his team in the first of five home games switched to Bradford – and urged them to return to watch Saturday’s showdown with Toulouse.
A crowd of 1,392 saw the Panthers go down 23-20 against his hometown team Oldham at Bartercard Odsal, which is being used because of the ongoing installation of a new pitch at The Shay.
Halifax then lost 20-14 against London Broncos on Saturday, with that game switched to non-league football club Ebbsfleet United’s Kuflink Stadium due to ongoing pitch maintenance work at the capital outfit’s usual Wimbledon base.
After taking on Toulouse, Halifax will head back to Odsal for matches against York (now brought forward to Friday, July 25 from Sunday 27) Sheffield and Hunslet, and they also have an away game at Bradford in and among.
“It was a great turn-out against Oldham, but then our fans have been great all season, and I’m disappointed we didn’t reward them with the win we might have got,” he said.
“We worked hard and did some good things, but in those moments we dropped off, we dropped off too much, and we have to get that fixed up.”