Halifax on their guard

HALIFAX coach Martin Hall knows his side is in for a hard time against Sheffield Eagles in the opening round of the play-offs.

By The Newsroom

Published 12th Sep 2007, 07:16 GMT

Updated 12th Sep 2007, 08:39 GMT

The teams met two weeks ago with Halifax edging a 24-16 win with tries in the final ten minutes.

"We know what to expect - it's going to be a really tough game," said Hall.

"They work more as team, plenty of enthusiasm and that's something we have to match.

"Sheffield have some good individuals but we've got plenty of quality in our team. We've got to match them on enthusiasm and then our quality should come through."

Halifax earned home advantage for the game - at the Shay on Sunday kick-off 3pm - by finishing third in National League One.

Like the Eagles they ended the season strongly boosted by the signing of back row forward Paul Smith from Huddersfield and stand-off Graham Holroyd from Doncaster.

Hall added: "We started of poorly and Sheffield might not have had the best of starts but the competition is over 18 games and we've won 10 out of the last 11.”