Panthers set for more amateur opposition after 9-try cup romp
Halifax Panthers have been handed a route through to get in among the big boys in the Betfred Challenge Cup.
Liam Finn’s men booked their place in the fifth round of the cup with a comprehensive 50-4 victory over Hammersmith Hills Hoists and have been rewarded with another home tie against amateur opposition after being drawn out to play York Acorn.
The winners will go on to the last 16 of the famous competition when the Super League teams enter.
Head coach Finn handed debuts to Ben Hursey, Oli Davies and Sam Campbell as the Panthers side easily avoided a cup upset at home to their plucky opponents last Saturday.
Greg Eden, Joe Keyes, Adam Tangata and Connor Davies were all rested at The Shay, but Fax still had plenty of quality on the pitch and it showed within the first seven minutes as Gaz Widdop’s looped pass to James Saltonstall sent the winger racing away before an inside pass found Ben Tibbs to cross over.
Ben Crooks added a second soon after when he powered over from close range before Widdop yet again found Saltonstall – this time with a kick – who collected the ball and skillfully touched the ball down.
Saltonstall was then celebrating his second try in five minutes as Fax moved the ball well to the right before they managed to extend the lead to 26-0 at the interval thanks to Louis Jouffret squeezing over.
It was a professional display from the Panthers who were showing their Championship
qualities against their Southern Conference League opponents.
And perhaps the visitors’ exuberance got the better of them after the restart as Riccardo Caligiuri caught Jacob Fairbank high in the tackle and was sent to the sin-bin.
Fax made their indiscipline play immediately as
Adam O’Brien, who started from the bench, powered over between the sticks from dummy-half.
Their lead was extended even further through Inman who crossed after good work from James Woodburn-Hall before Ryan Lannon completed the scoring with a late double.
His first came after some great work by Jouffret before his second followed in a similar manner.
In between, Fax fans showed their appreciation to the visitors as Charlie Beatty raced 40 metres to slide over in the corner to get the Hoists on the scoreboard.
The Panthers will now entertain another community club in York Acorn in the fifth round of the Challenge Cup with the tie taking place at The Shay on Sunday, March 10.
It will be Acorn’s first appearance in the fifth round and kick-off is 3pm with ticket information being made available shortly.