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Photos: Dave Hughes
James held on to secure a 26-19 victory against a battling Halifax side, to maintain their title challenge going into the business end of the season.
They had led convincingly at half time, but were put on the back foot for most of the second half under pressure from waves of Halifax attacks, but held on for the victory.
On an incredibly blustery day both teams went full throttle from the first whistle. James looked dominant in the first 5 minutes, so it was a surprise when Halifax took the lead after Nick Wright charged down a clearance attempt to score the first try. James McNeill converted to make it 7-0.
Their lead was cancelled out soon after as James’ George Richards pounced on a loose ball to dive over the try line. The try was then converted from out wide by James skipper Benji Brummitt which levelled the scores.
James’ physicality soon took its toll on the Halifax defence as Phil Clayton bundled over the try line after some great footwork from Tommy Savage, and Brummitt’s metronomic kicking again ensured the extras.
Soon after, a James counter-attack took advantage of a mismatch out wide. Some great vision from Chris Poynton saw Richards fly up the wing, only to feed inside to the supporting Tom Prifti who raced over to score under the posts, which was again converted by Brummitt.
By this point the Halifax defence was shell shocked. Brummitt took full advantage of a dog-leg in midfield to score another try, with his conversion hitting the post, the score was 26-7.
By half time James looked dominant and seemed to have put the game to bed. However Halifax, who were playing with the wind behind them in the second half, came out onto the field with renewed vigour and soon took control of the game.
Wright once again scored a try, with McNeill once again notching over the extras.
Then came a 20-minute spell where Halifax were camped in James’ 22. Their sustained pressure told when the run of Joe Cormack splintered the James defence to bundle over for another ‘Fax’ try, although McNeill couldn’t notch the extras this time to leave it at 26-19.
James then changed their game plan to a far more conservative, possession orientated game. After a nasty head injury to Charley Aslop, Halifax’s challenge seemed to fade, allowing James to hold on for the win.