In the end we deserved it. Well done Fax. Hopefully this will gove the lads the confidence to kick on!

Some people in the ground and on this forum need to support the lads abit more.

What so people having a different opinion constitutes not supporting the lads...?? Get a grip. 1700 people in the ground tells you we are still getting behind them after a month with very little to shout about. Those cracks we all moaned about haven't suddenly disappeared....

Smith - I find myself agreeing with too many if your posts.

Stop it.

Rich you know it makes sense.....

No ones getting carried away with anything but you can either focus on the good or focus on the bad.

On that point we can't have been that bad otherwise Batley would have been out of site with 10 minutes to go and we wouldn't have had the ability to score twice in three minutes against a good Batley side who have one of the best coaches at the helm and a strong team on the field.

What is to gain from mentioning the same things in every post, eg boring rugby, sack KH, the crowds are down and the board should do this that or the other.

We all have and are entitled to an opinion or a point, make it and move on.

Not being funny or anything and I have thought long and hard about it but we can get carried away by constantly being critical.

As to being world beaters I think that's where some of the problem lies, we never have been but some thought because we are Halifax we would naturaly be better than everyone else in the Championship.

Fact is were not but we have as much chance as most of our rivals as making progress.

No they haven't disappeared (the cracks), but there were signs of some Polyfilla being applied today.

I used to rage at Chris Smith's critical posts but it took me a long time to appreciate that he just wants the same as all of us - a successful Fax team. He wouldn't still be here if he didn't love the club deep down. I'm sure our board are aware of the shortcomings of this 2013 side. Long term - I have confidence in their ability to deliver. Halifax RLFC is a bumpy ride!

Absolutely!! I'm critical because I want us to be the best we can be...!! I'm also honest and don't wear rose tinted glasses. I've worked closely with the BODs previously especially Tony and Croady and know how passionate they are and vice versa...

We as paying customers all have a right to criticise or praise, it's part of the purchase!!

Halifax and the Bulldogs served up a cracking encounter at the Shay, with the lead changing hand on seven occasions before the hosts finally edged home 29-24 thanks to two tries in the dying stages of the game.

HALIFAX 29-24 BATLEY BULLDOGS
by Mark Ward

Kingstone Press Cider Championship, The Shay, 18 August 2013

If anyone connected with the two sides out on the Shay pitch this afternoon had any doubts about their side's commitment, quality or potential as we head towards the Championship play-off round, they were surely dispelled as all 34 combatants played their part in a thoroughly entertaining encounter in the sunshine. Possibly based on the recent history between the clubs, both sides bust a gut to try and secure a morale-boosting victory and it was Halifax that eventually came out on top, although the Bulldogs will feel aggrieved that they didn't head back to Batley with all three points after an excellent display.

The first ten minutes of the match set the tone for the whole encounter - good honest aggression from both packs, and defensive units definitely started on top with some ferocious tackling. The game sprang to life on 11 minutes when 'Fax took the lead with their first meaningful attack - fast hands got the ball out to the left hand side and Batley old boy Wayne Reittie forced his way in at the corner, ably supported by Steve Tyrer's towering touchline conversion. The hosts just about deserved their early advantage, although they nearly came unstuck on 17 minutes when the once-again excellent John Davies chipped the ball over the defensive on the last and flying winger Greg Johnson just failed to haul the ball in.

Halifax extended their advantage with a Tyrer penalty on 23 minutes after a high-shot was called by Mr Merrick, but it was an error by Reittie just two minutes later that gave the visitors a foothold back into the game. The winger's fancy reverse pass attempt went to ground and from the resultant set, Miles Greenwood picked a huge hole in the defensive line to score under the posts against his old club; Tom Hemingway's simple conversion under the posts brought the score back to 8-6.

Having got on the scoresheet, the Bulldogs pushed on and took the game to their opponents with telling consequences on 33 minutes. Former 'Fax favourite Ben Black's angled kick on the last seemed to completely bamboozle the home defence and it was John Davies who reacted quickest to touch the ball down for a try. Hemingway once again converted in front of the sticks allowing the Bulldogs to close out an impressive half-time advantage.

HALF-TIME: HALIFAX 8-12 BATLEY BULLDOGS

After such a tight opening forty minutes, both sides decided to give the ball some air after the break and tries a-plenty followed. The hosts recaptured the advantage on 48 minutes - substitute Lee Paterson skittled the Bulldogs defence with a superb dash and Craig Ashall was in support to score, despite the close attentions of Greenwood. Tyrer added the extras to edge Halifax 14-12 in front, but just four minutes later the Bulldogs struck back to retake the lead. A great carry from Josh Johnson gave the visitors a platform to create the opportunity for Greg Johnson to get the ball down in the corner, leaving a too-difficult conversion for Hemingway.

The points kept coming - on 61 minutes Liam Walmsley failed to halt the momentum of Ben Heaton's excellent try, and two minutes later Gareth Moore brought parity to the score at 18-18 (remember that scoreline?) with a penalty after a high-shot on Jason Walton. With the scores level, no surprises what happened next - Scott Murrell found himself with the freedom of the Shay on 67 minutes and decided to knock-over a drop-goal to put 'Fax back in command.

Still the Bulldogs weren't finished, and they took the lead again on 70 minutes with a try of real quality. Ayden Faal stepped out of a challenge and broke the Halifax line superbly before releasing Greg Johnson on his shoulder to score a spectacular effort. Gareth Moore's conversion put the Bulldogs on the front foot at 24-19, but the hosts refused to yield and on 75 minutes although Paterson's break was checked by Johnson, it was merely delaying the inevitable as Ashall crashed over for his seconf try from close range. Tyrer converted to edge 'Fax a point ahead and in the dying moments, Tyrer's excellent chip was spectacularly downed in the corner by Reittie to seal a spectacular win for Halifax.

A great advert for the Championship and, dare it be said, two sides who still have very legitimate hopes of landing this year's title on this afternoon's display. Roll on the play-offs!

"Get a grip"

Do you just come on here to fall out and be rude to people?

Maybe it's you who needs to 'get a grip'

Really....??

We needed that one.

I thought the boys dug in deep and just had enough in the end. At times I thought each player looked pretty good but then most of them also made some silly mistakes but it did look like a team with no confidence so hopefully we can take a lot out of that win and try and push on and have an impact in the play offs. Where ever we have to go we will be massive underdogs and I dont really mind that with the team we have.

You have the team sheet to win it.

If your moaning after a game like that then you are moaning for the sake of it. Two good teams having a dig. Yes it wasn't pretty in parts but neither was manly v souths or the knights and storm a couple days ago. What do people expect from the lads? It was very entertaining. Both teams 100% comitted and playing some decent stuff and the first thing someone says on here is a moan. Unbelievable

It needs to be constructive critisim though and the rose tinted glasses need to see what harm can be done when it isn't, there seems to be plenty of criticism but not much praise.

It's good to have different opinions and probably somewhere in the middle is the right place.

Third v Fourth

what game was this ?

Yes I know I got it wrong it was 3 v 5 but that's what we were playing for.

Apologise to the Leythers who were and still are fourth.

For now at least.

I agree it was good to see a close game yesterday between two competitive teams. However, the point still stands that for 70 minutes - and many previous games - we've played extremely dull, boring and clueless rugby and we don't look to be taking any steps to change that.

Look i'm not wanting to start calling for Karl's head as I hold so much respect for him, but he needs to make some changes in attack whether that's bringing in an attack coach or putting more responsibility on Murrell and the future half-backs to sort out our attacking movement and strategy. Something needs to change.

Yeh I know mate it's so frustrating and dissapointing.

Some of our play this year has been pretty down the middle tough it out stuff and can be boring, in fact the first game against Sheffield was in that mold as much if not more so than some others but we got the result.

The headless chicken stuff was hard to comprehend at times.

On the other hand some of our play like against Dewsbury at home, Leigh at home, Swinton away was good attacking rugby.

It's against Fev and Sheffield and Leigh away later in the season where our weaknesses have been highlighted.

We all know this revolves around the 6,7 and 9 positions.

Only Thacks has any leg speed but to make it worse the passing speed in our halves is far too slow, the better sides who have fast defensive line speed like Fev are all over us like a rash by the time we move the ball out.

In spite of this we are third in the table, have lost just once at home so if we can fix the halves a hooker how much better can we be!!

The coaching staff and club are aware of this and there are going to be changes people in and people out especially in these positions, all we can do is stick with what we have, do the best we can in the last couple of games and playoffs and then see who comes in for next year.

From a personal point of view, I thoroughly enjoyed the game! A real battle where we held our nerve and took those chances when it mattered. Well done to the players of both teams for making it the spectacle it was.

Charlie can only see one outcome FAX third and Leythers 4 th , or Leythers 3rd and Fax 4th ,

that's 2 outcomes

.

Amen to that.

Boring? I actually thought you played some pretty exciting rugby on Sunday and a number of the tries you scored were excellent! Great game between two good teams. Wayne Reittie must have walked off the pitch with a smirk on his face given the stick he's received from some Batley fans (myself included) over the last few seasons.

A cracking game of hard rugby league where both teams gave their all