Panthers’ play-off hopes dashed by visitors York
Halifax Panthers saw their play-off campaign come to a dramatic end at the hands of a determined York City Knights outfit.
Onamemorableeveningat The Shay, the Panthers were denied a semi-final play-off clash with Featherstone Rovers following a 26-24 defeat.
SimonGrix’smenwereunable to build on their 10-point half-time lead as York producedoneoftheall-timegreat Championship comebacks.
Match official Jack Smith sent Danny Kirmond to the sin-binearlyonfollowingalate challenge on Joe Keyes. That didn’t stop Knights’ James Glover successfully kicking a goalfromcloserangeafterCity were awarded a penalty.
The response from HalifaxwasswiftasBenKavanagh capitalisedonadisguisedpass from Keyes to exploit a gap in York’s defence and cross the whitewashinthe10thminute. Moments later, Halifax were celebrating a second as Keyes’ perfectly weighted grubber kick was finished off in the corner by Lachlan Walmsley.
On 20 minutes, Joe Brown bagged the first York try while moments later Will Jubb stamped his name on the scoresheet. Glover’s conversionmovedtheKnightsahead.
Despite the setback, another grubber kick, this time from James Woodburn-Hall, allowed Walmsley to touch down in the corner to rein
state Fax’s lead. With seconds remaining in the opening half, Walmsleyreceivedascintillating looping pass from Louis Jouffret before completing his hat-trick. Keyes’ conversionmadeit22-12atthebreak.
After the restart, York seemed intent on cutting
their losses and immediately punished the hosts for an early penalty. Former Fax man Liam Harris raced through a hole before touching down.
LeviEdwardsstretchedhis way over on the left to make it 22-22 on 50 minutes. Glover was unable to convert.
Keyes was able to nudge Fax ahead by kicking over a penalty, then James Saltonstall dropped a towering last tackle bomb to hand the initiative back to York. Glover levelled the match with his own penalty goal, then his 50 metre penalty goal gave York a two-point lead heading into the final 10.
With three minutes to go, Keyes was given an opportunity to bail his team out with a 40-metre penalty goal.
Instead, Fax’s star man was sensationally denied by the post.