London Roosters made the familiar journey North into the Yorkshire badlands to face Halifax Panthers, playing their first game in their new at the exceptional Sedbergh Sports Centre in Low Moor on the Halifax-Bradford border, where the Panthers came up against a Roosters team growing in confidence.

The teams traded blows and try for try in the first period with Halifax opening up the scoring before Lewis King pulled one back. The Panthers pulled ahead again with a couple of well worked tries before Joe Coyd opened his account for the day and clawed the Roosters back into the game.

The Panthers were coming out on top with England International Rob Hawkins dominant and pushing the score out to 20 before Jack Linden scored an important try just before half time, converted by Joe Coyd to make the score 20-14

Both coaches gave the same message at half time, ‘The team with the least errors wins’.

Lewis King struck early to make it a two point game just after the break, before Halifax pushed ahead again with a converted try and then took a penalty to open up a ten point lead at 30-20. It was to be their last score.

The irrepressible Joe Coyd led the comeback with a try and drove his colleagues hard. The game changed with a couple of key plays from Jack Linden, both in defence and attack. The excellent Lewis King wrapped up the win with a brace of tries to seal a milestone victory in the Roosters first season

Halifax Coach – Wayne Boardman said ‘We have no complaints, the best team won today. They were good in the second half and made less mistakes than us and we paid the price. Its good that we have finished top of the table at the break point and we are looking forward to the Top 4 format’

Roosters Stand In Coach – Martin Coyd said ‘This is a big day for The Roosters and Wheelchair Rugby league outside of the traditional areas. For the first time, the great Halifax club have been defeated by a team from the South. It’s been coming, the players and staff have worked very hard and got what they deserved today. Every player made a big effort today'

'Lewis King and Joe Coyd are both very strong players and ensure that we are tough to break through in defence and they go forward well. This enables the rest of the team to work as a unit, through the middle and on the edges. everybody playing their part. Our defence was exceptional in the second half with Ash Archer and Freya Levy making brilliant contribution, stopping try scoring opportunities with their chair skills and attitude.

'Jason Owen came off the bench and made a big contribution in the middle, both in attack and defence. The key plays, the ones which turned the game from Jack Linden, who hadn't made a great start to the game and spent a period on the bench. Coming back on, re-focussed, he made an immediate impact with a try from a Coyd pass to close the gap to just six points at half time.'

In the second half, he broke the line, evaded defenders and scored a crucial try. This was followed by an interception when it seemed certain that Halifax would score. The outstanding Lewis King made the game safe when he closed it out with 3 minutes to go'

'One of the great days'