Liam Finn praises ‘excellent’ Swinton Lions after Halifax Panthers suffer third straight league defeat

The Lions, ultimately, gave Fax too much to do after the visitors roared into a 20-0 half-time lead at The Shay thanks to tries from Mitch Cox, Jayden Hatton, Daniel Abram and Jonathon Vaughan.

Louis Jouffret and Greg Eden gave the Panthers hope but Kevin Larroyer’s yellow card with 11 minutes remaining curtailed any chance of a miraculous recovery as Jordan Gibson danced through for Swinton’s fifth try of the afternoon to seal a 28-12 win.

Head coach Finn said after the defeat: “It might seem like a strange thing to say after losing again but I am proud of the effort today. There are areas of that game that we can fix up. In the first half, 90 per cent of the stuff we were doing, we were doing right.

“But we conceded three tries on last tackle plays, a couple of bounces of the ball on kicks and one clock-off defensively and all of a sudden we are 20 points down again. When the chips are down, they are down.

“We spoke at half-time and we still fancied our chances of coming back into the game. We created enough momentum and opportunities in the second half to score points but we probably just missed that final pass or just got pulled down or Swinton made a last-ditch tackle.

“They were excellent on the day. There are areas that you have got to credit Swinton for. I think the only error they made in the second half was when we got the short kick off back.

“When the opposition don’t keep making many errors you have got to commend them for that.”

On Fax’s second half display, which saw them recover from 0-20 to 12-20, Finn said:

“We did enough in the second half to give ourselves a chance to get those points. When you haven’t got the last few weeks of momentum behind you, and confidence, it is a battle.

“You have ups and downs in this game. The downs make you stronger and they make you appreciate the ups. We are going through one at the minute but without a doubt there is nothing but effort and togetherness and we are determined to come out of the other side.”

Finn made a few tweaks to the side which were heavily defeated by Sheffield Eagles last weekend by naming a very attacking line-up in an attempt to return to winning ways with Jouffret moving to full-back, James Woodburn-Hall moving to centre and Zach McComb moving to loose forward. Eden came back onto the wing and Joe Keyes joined Gareth Widdop in the halves from the start while Brandon Douglas and Ed Barber made their second debuts from the bench.

Finn said: “For the first time in a few weeks I had a selection headache and I had some options within the team which was a refreshing change and hopefully down the line we get some more back.

“That played a part in making the decision and people coming back in to give us some freshness. Ultimately it was a team that I thought could get us the result today.

“And it could have done, in a few different circumstances. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be.”

On the impact that Douglas and Barber could have for his side, Finn said:

“Dougy has been out for a long time and it’s a management thing with the injury to his thumb. He is fine now but it will take a bit of time to get his confidence but I thought he made an impact in his cameo role which is what it was always going to be.

“Ed, similarly, showed the quality player he is in attack. He showed he will offer us something a bit different. He has come back in great shape and that was one of the reasons why it was a no-brainer to bring him back.

“You could see from both of them that they will add to the group and they already have done. It’s exciting to have them in the mix.”