Halifax 30 Sheffield Eagles 10: Murray double helps Halifax beat Eagles

In a contest marked by a lengthy blizzard either side of half time, Richard Marshall’s side were indebted to two-try prop Daniel Murray, who was the dominant figure on his second debut for the club.

The Salford front rower, who played for Fax on dual registration last season and returned on a month’s loan on Thursday, bookended a solid team performance with tries in the second and 73rd minutes.

Fax had taken the lead when Murray barged his way over for a scrappy try, centre Steve Tyrer converting for a 6-0 scoreline.

Murray almost created a second try with a surging break, although it was the Eagles, on their first visit into the Fax 20, who scored next when Cory Aston slipped a brilliant pass to the impressive St Helens forward Jack Ashworth, Oscar Thomas levelling the scores with the conversion.

Fax slowly turned the screw though, with Barber’s surging run setting the position for James Woodburn-Hall to carve open the defence and score under the posts, Tyrer on target for a 12-6 advantage.

Ed Barber opened the scoring in the second half, cutting back against the defence to score his side’s third try, Tyrer’s conversion pushing the score out to 18-6.

Sheffield replied with Aston – inevitably – the architect for Matt James’ try. But the home side simply moved up a gear; Murray and fellow prop Dan Fleming both scoring late tries as the home side finished well on top.

Batley Bulldogs were given a rough ride as they lost 34-6 against Championship rivals Leigh Centurions.

Alex Rowe scored Batley’s only try with Pat Walker adding conversion points.