Eagles chief Aston left '˜embarassed' by heavy 60-22 defeat to Halifax

The defeat was Aston’s side’s fourth in a row, and they put in arguably their most worrying display of what has been a disappointing 2016 campaign.

Aston was left to watch his side crumble during the second stanza, as Fax tore his side to shreds to leave the Eagles firmly looking over their shoulder with seven games remaining of the regular season.

There was no hiding for the Eagles coach who again gave an honest assessment of his side’s display, with Aston claiming it is the same issues that are still haunting his ailing team.

“I was embarrassed with that,” Aston admitted.

“To let 60 points in is embarrassing. You are not going to believe this but we have worked hard all week on defence.

“We didn’t show the right attitude or the desire to win, and that is the most disappointing thing.

“As a collective unit we are soft, teams are challenging us up front and we are coming up with a negative response.

“That is the issue; there is no doubt about that.

“Defensively you have to be brave and honest and we are certainly not that at the moment.”

The Eagles set the tone for the afternoon after conceding a try after just two minutes, and their hopes were effectively ended after half-time when they leaked another score straight after the interval.

The afternoon was summed up with Menzie Yere losing the ball when diving over for what looked like a certain try, and experienced front-rower Scott Wheeldon losing his discipline after being sin-binned for dissent.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Eagles with a home game against John Kear’s Batley on Friday, with the Bulldogs moving into third position following a 42-18 success against Oldham.

“Credit where credit is due, Halifax were great but we were poor,” Aston added.

“There is some soul searching to be done. There are too many people letting themselves down. We are still digging, I keep telling them to start filling it back in but this hole is getting mighty deep now. It wasn’t a great day at the office but all we can do is keep working hard and find a way out of the hole that we find ourselves in.”