Halifax 38 Hunslet Hawks 6: Ruthless Halifax ease their way to summit

Karl Harrison’s side, who remain unbeaten after seven rounds, are now a point clear of Rovers, who were beaten at Sheffield on Thursday night.

It was obvious from the off that Halifax, whose recent form has been unconvincing despite positive results, were considerably sharper than Barry Eaton’s visitors, who had five Leeds Rhinos players in their side.

Halifax dominated the opening quarter, taking the lead through Craig Ashall’s try, the loose forward taking Scott Murrell’s pass and bursting through to score by the posts. Winger Lee Paterson converted, and five minutes before the break Halifax added to their tally, Sam Barlow touching down.

Paterson kicked them 12-0 ahead and they scored again from the restart, full-back Ryan Fieldhouse rounding off a midfield raid. Paterson made it 18-0 at half-time, and they added a brace of tries in quick succession in the opening minutes of the second period through Rikki Sheriffe and Anthony Thackeray.

At 26-0, Hunslet prop Andy Yates finally managed to get the visitors off the mark, David March adding the conversion, but Halifax finished strongly with Fieldhouse and Barlow adding touchdowns.

Halifax: Fieldhouse; Worrincy, Heaton, Bowman, Paterson; Handforth, Murrell; Tonks, Thackeray, Ambler, Manning, Casey, Ashall. Substitutes: Robinson, Barlow, Divorty, Sheriffe.

Hunslet Hawks: Watson; Bush, Keinhorst, Brickwood, Chisholm; Grimshaw, Helliwell; Singleton, Hood, Menzies, Haughey, Oakes, March. Substitutes: Pryce, Yates, Haigh, Houston.

Referee: Warren Turley.