Leigh too good as Panthers lose again
Halifax suffer fifth defeat in six games in-front of TV cameras
HALIFAX PANTHERS fell to their fifth defeat in six games as Leigh Centurions ran out 26-16 winners at The Shay.
The Panthers, who were making their Monday night Premier Sports debut, couldn’t capitalise on their early lead as the visitors put on a classy showing.
Zack McComb opened the scoring after just seven minutes. A lot of the credit for the opener will go to James Saltonstall who powered down the right wing and produced a perfectly weighted grubber kick, just moments before being pushed into touch.
With the ball teetering on Leigh’s tryline, McComb capitalised as he touched down to put his side ahead.
The visitors’ reply didn’t come without controversy. Mark Ioane forced his way over the whitewash after receiving a quick pass from James Bell. However, there were serious question marks over the grounding - concerns highlighted by the Premier Sports cameras. Nevertheless, the try stood and Ben Reynold’s successful conversion moved the Centurions in-front.
Things quickly deteriorated for Halifax who kicked the ball out on the full to further fuel Leigh’s growing momentum.
The visitors made full use of the opportunity as Nene MacDonald scored Leigh’s second try. Caleb Aekin cleverly drew in the defender and released his teammate down the left.
Reynolds missed the following conversion, which meant
Leigh enjoyed a 10-4 lead going into the interval.
Leigh weathered the storm after half-time and went on the attack, shifting the ball out to the right wing with pace as Ed Chamberlain’s pass found Keanan Brand who dived over the tryline.
With 20 minutes remaining, the situation continued to deteriorate as Tom Amone found the whitewash. Joe Wardle made the initial break before feeding James Bell
down the middle. He then found Amone who proved unstoppable as he powered over. Reynolds converted the effort meaning Leigh moved 22-4 ahead.
In order to stand any chance of a comeback, the Panthers needed to score the next try. Thankfully for Grix’s side, Saltonstall produced the goods after finishing a well worked effort in the right corner.
Joe Keyes converted from the touchline to move his side with
in 12 points. However, with just 14 minutes remaining, Halifax simply couldn’t afford to concede more points.
Leigh were in no mood for grand stand finales. Instead, Adrian Lam’s side shifted the ball out to Joe Wardle who dived over in the corner to make it 2610.
There was to be no late comeback but Halifax who had the last say as Lachlan Walmsley finished off a well worked try in the right corner before Keyes’ conversion.
Match official: Nick Bennett Attendance: 2,202.