october 10th

Halifax Vikings   39  -  Pontefract Pythons   12

Man of the match - Mick Firth

Scorers - Tries Wassell luke Banfield Con D.Armstrong

Saturday 10 October 2009 Halifax Vikings 39 Pontefract Pythons 12

Despite being comfortably beaten by Halifax in this friendly Pythons can take great heart from the fact that only two years ago this Halifax club were playing in National League One and also that a spirited fight back saw them win the second half of this contest. Although their well paid stars have left Halifax still have the structure and coaching set up in place to make them formidable opponents. Pythons also took the opportunity of a friendly to try out new blood and combinations. The first twenty minutes was an uphill battle literally and Halifax dominated and scored a number of classy tries despite the best defensive efforts of Simon Bickerdike, Dave Armstrong ,Luke Banfield and Ashley Bradshaw. Pythons did have some possession and half backs Oskar Gurtlar and Mick Firth probed and tested Whilst Brothers Phil and Rich Liddle ran the ball in hard .However they could not break down the home defence. AS half time approached the introduction of old heads Colin Swift and namesake John Swift calmed the youngsters nerves and a fightback began. Still they turned around 32-0 down but arousing half time speech from Andy Walker rallied the old Python Spirit. Number eight Gavin Wright began to take on the defence assisted by the strong running James Buitelaar and Rich Armstrong and Halifax began to wilt. After a cross field kick Mick Wassell beat the defence to score and after a almighty forwards drive replacement scrum half Luke Banfield buried over. Halifax were visibly shaken and only desperate defence prevented Ian Holland and Mick Firth from closing the gap further .Debutant Sam Smith also ran the ball in hard and straight and can be proud of his efforts. Ultimately Mick Firth was crowned man of the match for his attacking flair and defence. Halifax scored again after benefiting from a loose Pythons pass but the Pontefract side deservedly won the second half and showed signs that this rebuilt team shows all the old Python spirit which their famous for..

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Report by Flatcapper