OLDHAM 4 HALIFAX PANTHERS 40
KASEY SMITH, Boundary Park, Friday
HALIFAX stormed into the semi-finals after spanking Oldham on their own turf who had no answer to the rampant Panthers.
The victory stretched the Panthers’ winning streak to five, capped by a near-perfect performance against an Oldham side they had not got the better of since 2017.
Perhaps Oldham thought it might be easy, having put Halifax under some real pressure in the opening ten minutes. But the Panthers stood firm and then unleashed hell onto a dumbstruck Roughyeds, who barely recovered.
Roughyeds boasted a strong record against Kyle Eastmond’s side, having won the previous five encounters, but this time it was the Panthers who had the final word, keeping their season alive for at least another week.
Oldham’s attack looked disjointed, with little cohesion to trouble the defence. Halifax absorbed every surge with ease, and in stark contrast, the Panthers carried with greater intent and moved the ball at a far higher tempo. Roughyeds simply had no reply.
With Ryan Brierley in his preferred full-back role, Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e has been operating on the wing in recent weeks — a position still unfamiliar to the youngster. Lining up alongside Ben Davies on Oldham’s left edge, he soon found himself under constant fire, as Halifax repeatedly targeted that flank — and the tactic paid off handsomely.
Having weathered an early period of Oldham pressure, Halifax settled into their rhythm. A towering kick from George Whitby allowed Charlie Graham to ground the ball in the corner, the kick rising too high for the hapless Davies, giving Halifax a 4-0 lead
A lazy shot from Matty Ashurst provided the Panthers more possession in the Roughyeds final third and it was a Brandon Douglas crash-over which came up trumps to knock Sean Long’s men for six after such a bright start.
It went from bad to worse for Oldham, who seemed incapable of dealing with the Panthers kicks. This time it was from Adam O’Brien, from dummy half, who caught Davies and Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e at sixes and sevens with Ben Crooks diving on it for a 16-0 lead after the first quarter.
Halifax opted for that Oldham left edge again and it was David Nofoaluma who feigned right and then stepped back right to dart through a gaping hole for the fourth try of the night.
Roughyeds showed some fight at the start of the second half, but before Oldham could find any real foothold, Halifax struck once more. A slick move began with Alfie Johnson releasing Ben Tibbs, who in turn offloaded to the wide-open Woodburn-Hall to seal the game.
With little left to lose, Oldham threw caution aside. Ethan Ryan’s incisive run down the wing, cutting inside to carve out space, finally broke through the defence to earn a late consolation.
The Panthers rubbed salt into the wound when Nofoaluma burst through the tackles and flung a wide pass to Charlie Graham, who crossed for his second try. On the hooter, Jacob Fairbank put the icing on the cake.
Halifax now head to York for a spot in the Championship Grand Final, where another thriller looks to be on the cards after this performance.
GAMESTAR: George Whitby, with his kicking game, tore Roughyeds apart.
GAMEBREAKER: Woodburn-Hall’s try just before the hour mark killed off an already unlikely Oldham comeback.
MATCHFACTS
ROUGHYEDS
1 Ryan Brierley
28 Ethan Ryan
24 Ben O’Keefe
38 Ben Davies
31 Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e
42 Morgan Smith
23 Josh Drinkwater
12 Jack Ormondroyd
9 Matty Wildie
8 Gil Dudson
35 Tom Whitehead
11 Matty Ashurst
13 Adam Milner
Subs (all used)
10 Owen Farnworth
15 Jay Chapelhow
16 George Hirst
19 Ted Chapelhow
Tries: Ryan (61)
Goals: Drinkwater 0/1
PANTHERS
23 David Nofoaluma
2 Ben Tibbs
21 Alfie Johnson
4 Ben Crooks
3 Charlie Graham
6 James Woodburn-Hall
32 George Whitby
8 Brandon Douglas
9 Adam O’Brien
16 Ronan Dixon
12 Adam Tangata
11 Owen McCarron
13 Jacob Fairbank
Subs (all used)
34 Vila Halafihi
14 Tom Inman
20 Brad Graham
17 Will Calcott
Tries: C Graham (11, 68), Douglas (14), Crooks (20), Nofoaluma (31), Woodburn-Hall (50), Fairbank (78)
Goals: Whitby 6/7
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-4, 0-10, 0-16, 0-22; 0-28, 4-28, 4-34, 4-40
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Roughyeds: Tom Whitehead; Panthers: George Whitby
Penalty count: 1-2
Half-time: 0-22
Referee: Matty Lynn
Attendance: 2,667