Halifax 35 Swinton Lions 38 - Liam Marshall denies Halifax victory with winning try

Impressive winger Marshall, on loan from Wigan Warriors, grabbed his fourth touchdown of the game with a minute remaining to put an unexpected dent in the home side’s top four aspirations.

Halifax made a good start, scoring twice in the opening eight minutes through Miles Greenwood and Sam Smeaton, Steve Tyrer’s conversions giving them a 12-0 lead.

That became 16-0 when Jake Eccleston touched down a Gareth Moore kick. But Swinton battled back, Marshall touching down twice in quick succession.

At 16-10 the Lions were back in the game, but a quickfire double from Brandon Moore and Greenwood put Halifax 28-10 ahead on the half hour.

But a point-blank Josh Barlow try, converted by Chris Atkin, gave Swinton a lifeline at 28-16 at the break. Swinton came storming out of the blocks for the second period scoring first through Marshall’s hat-trick try after a brilliant pass from Macauley Hallett and then again through Atkin’s juggled long-range interception.

That left the game poised at 28-24, before a Ben Kaye try, converted by Tyrer, before Hallett touched down for Swinton to leave the scores poised at 34-28.

Lions winger Shaun Robinson pounced on a horrible error from Greenwood, Atkin levelling the scores at 34-34 from the sideline.

Halifax eased back downfield though, with Gareth Moore’s drop goal giving them a 35-34 lead with three minutes to go.

But conceded a penalty from the klck off, which Atkin obligingly put wide, they were powerless to stop Marshall racing in straight from a scrum.

Halifax: Greenwood; Eccleston, Smeaton, Tyrer, Sharp; G. Moore, Murrell; Cahalane, Kaye, Ambler, Manning, Tangata, Fairbank. Substitutes: R. Moore, B. Moore, Robinson, Bennion.

Swinton: Butt; Robinson, Littler, Hallett, Marshall; White, Atkin; Morrison, Nicholson, Hand, Dwyer, Lloyd, Thornley. Substitutes: Halafihi, Nash, Barlow, Lever.

Referee: C. Campbell (RFL).