Halifax Panthers scored two converted tries in the last four minutes to snatch a 38-28 victory over Barrow Raiders.
The south Cumbrians, who had led 18-12 at half-time, looked to be good for the win when they led 28-26 going into the last five minutes but they were undone by the Panthers to complete a dismal day for the home club.
Their Ladies reserves side, Barrow and District were well beaten 39-4 by Workington Town Ladies and then in the Women’s Super League Barrow weren’t able to match Wigan Warriors and went under 46-6.
In the Championship clash, which was the last of the three games being staged on the day, the Raiders had made a great start with a try on four minutes when Adam Jackson found Matt Costello with a great pass and he put Andrew Bulman in at the corner for an unconverted try.
But the lead lasted just five minutes as Halifax came back to go ahead when they moved the ball the wide for Ben Tibbs to get the ball down in the corner and Louis Jouffret landed the touchline conversion.
Bulman thought he had scored his second try after 15 minutes but after he dived over in the corner the referee disallowed the touchdown because of a knock on.
It seemed to have proved costly immediately afterwards when Halifax responded with a legitimate score. The Barrow defence failed to deal with a dummy and then the pace of Joe Keyes who got away for the touchdown which Jouffret converted.
Barrow hit back after 21 minutes when Jacob Douglas switched the ball back inside for Luke Cresswell to cross near the posts and Ryan Johnston converted.
Six minutes latyer Cresswell scored his second when he got on the end of a chip through from Johnston and the conversion from Johnston meant they led 16-12.
A penalty on 32 minutes for offside gave Johnston the chance to extend the lead and his kick sent them into the break with a six point advantage.
Five minutes into the second half and Barrow were able to increase their lead. Johnston was the provider with a clever ball for Matt Costello to step inside and touchdown for an unconverted try.
Another five minutes later Barrow appeared to have taken a stranglehold on the game when Ellis Gillam put Cresswell in for his hat-trick try which Johnston converted.
Yet from 28-12 in arrears, the Panthers roared back to win the game – and with points to spare.
The come-back started on 55 minutes when James Saltonstall took a low pass to get over in the corner and this time Keyes did the kicking to add two points to the scoreboard.
On the hour it was Saltonstall again who got over in the corner but this time Leyes missed the conversion attempt.
James Woodburn-Hall was next to breach the Barrow defence on 69 minutes and there were just two points between the two sides.
Barrow held on until the 76th minute when Zack McComb somehow got over the home line to score and there was a third different kicker in Gareth Widdop to add the conversion.
With a minute left Halifax made sure of victory when Keyes forced his way through the home defence to get the final try which Widdop converted.
It was a disappointing end to a game which had held so much promise for so long for the Raiders.
