Swinton 12 Halifax 62: Barber hat-trick eases Fax to Lions win

The visitors set the tone from the kick off, forcing an error from the kick off to open the scoring after Gareth Moore and Scott Murrell moved the ball to the left, where full-back Ben Johnston sliced through the cover to score, with Steve Tyrer converting.

Centre Ed Barber grabbed Halifax’s second try after Johnston turned provider, Tyrer’s kick drifting wide, before claiming a second after more attacking work from the full-back.

Tyrer’s conversion made it 16-0 before Johnston scored himself, backing up a long break from James Saltonstall to score by the posts, Tyrer converting.

A Will Sharp try, from Murrell’s cross kick, saw Tyrer extend the lead to 28-0, before Swinton finally managed to get their hands on the ball long enough to mount an attack, Rhodri Lloyd touching down and Chris Atkin kicking the goal for a 28-6 half time scoreline.

Halifax increased their lead as Murrell crossed, before Barber completed his hat-trick, Tyrer converting both, before Gabriel Fell grabbed one back for Swinton, Matty Beharrell converting.

But Halifax pulled away with tries from Gareth Moore, Mitch Cahalane, Gavin Bennion and Luke Ambler, three more conversions from Tyrer rounding things off at 62-12.

Swinton: Fell; Robinson, Littler, Hallett, Marshall; Atkin, Beharrell; Fleming, Waterworth, Austin, Lloyd, Thornley, Lever. Substitutes: White, Hand, Barlow, Johnson

Halifax: Johnston; Saltonstall, Barber, Tyrer, Sharp; G. Moore, Murrell; Cahalane, Kaye, Ambler, Grix, Tangata, Fairbank. Substitutes: R. Moore, Bennion, Robinson, Boyle

Referee: W Turley (RFL).