REPORT | Halifax Panthers 12 Dons 50

The Dons recorded a nine-try victory on the road as they defeated Halifax Panthers at the Shay Stadium.

Richard Horne's side were in control from the off and led comfortably at the interval thanks to tries from Watson Boas, Greg Burns, Bureta Faraimo and Connor Robinson.

Boas completed his brace in the second half, and further tries from James Glover, Luis Johnson, Edene Gebbie and Loui McConnell gave the Dons a thoroughly deserved two points in the Betfred Championship.
Horne made two changes to the side that convincingly saw off Salford RLFC away three weeks earlier, with Gebbie and Brad Knowles both handed spots inside the starting XIII. Castleford Tigers-loanee Jack Ashworth made his debut for the club as an interchange.
The Dons started the stronger of the two sides as Glover and Tom Holmes forced an early goal-line drop-out from the hosts, but too many errors crept into the opening few minutes to deny an early scoring incident.
The visitors did, however, break the deadlock on a quarter of an hour. Horne's men kept the ball alive on the right-hand side and managed to find Boas, who raced in and over the line for a four-point lead.
But four minutes later, Halifax were in front. A kick from centre out to the left bounced in the goal area, and Alfie Johnson reacted quickest to claim the ball and ground. Darius Carter added the extras.
The Dons had to get a grip of the game again and did so after 27 minutes. The away side went to the right on the last tackle through Burns, who went alone to scramble his way in. Robinson converted. 6-10.
Horne's men were determined to not fall behind again and furthered their lead three minutes on. It was after yet more success on the right wing as Faraimo took the football on and battled his way through with power to make the goal area. Robinson converted.
The Dons were now really kicking on, and the moment of the first half came on 36 minutes. Robinson took play on from halfway and weaved his way through the Panthers' pack before fooling the last man to go free to ground on the left. The Dons number seven then converted his own try. 6-22.
The visitors finished the remainder of the opening 40 minutes strongly and went into the break with a thoroughly deserved 16-point lead.
Horne's men raced out of the traps at the start of the second half and scored again seven minutes after the restart. After going to the right again, the Dons found Boas, who sliced through a gap to confirm his personal brace.
Matters got even better for the Dons after 54 minutes. Glover came inside from the left and produced a fine solo effort to score just to the side of the posts. Robinson added the extras again. 6-32.
Halifax provided a response on 59 minutes as Jesse Soric sprinted after his own kick into the goal area and managed to ground just ahead of Holmes, just as the ball was looking to be going into touch. Carter converted.
Both Glover and Knowles looked to have scored for the Dons inside the last twenty minutes of the match as Horne's men looked to finish strongly, but both were denied with the referee pulling play back for earlier incidents.
The visitors did, however, manage to inflict further damage on the Panthers' try line after 71 minutes. Johnson did brilliantly on the right to work his way through and hold off his man to go over and score. Robinson converted again. 12-38.
Three minutes later, in minute 74, the Dons scored again. Gebbie drifted his way over to the right from full back and slotted through to score with relative ease. Robinson added the extras again.
And there was still time for one last try as Gebbie handed to McConnell in the final minute of the 80, and the number 13 glided through to score. Faraimo added the extras from in front of the sticks to crown the victory with the Dons' 50th and final point of the afternoon.
Dons: Holmes, Faraimo, Boas, Glover, Gebbie, Aston, Robinson, Knowles, Burns, Mustapha, Sutcliffe, Johnson, J. Jones. Interchanges: Matagi, McConnell, Hepi, Ashworth.