Halifax Panthers vs York Knights

When wider Rugby League fans hear the name Scott Grix, a couple of things will come to mind.

A 14 year professional career spanning 6 clubs and over 425 first grade appearances scoring 164 tries, third on the all time list of cap holders for the Ireland national team, a skilful full back with a top class Rugby brain, although perhaps capable of the odd mishap here or there (Ryan Hall and Leeds fans will always think of that final day in 2015)

But when Halifax Rugby League supporters hear that particular name, the ones on the older end of the scale anyway, there will only ever be one single moment in time that brings all the memories flooding back.

The date was Sunday 10th October 2004, the setting - Halton Stadium in Widnes. 10,500 spectators flocked to Cheshire for the National League Finals Day, although those in blue and white thinking Fax were there competing for a place in the top division were sadly mistaken.

Following the drop from Super League in 2003, Fax faced the prospect of back to back relegations after a dismal first season in the second tier. Anthony Farrell's men found themselves in the LHF Healthplan National League Two Qualifying Final, after finishing second from bottom in the table.

With Tony Anderson sacked in April 2004, Faz took over the reigns as player coach to try and bring some stability to proceedings at The Shay. But he couldn't stop the fall as Grix and his hometown club found themselves fighting for their lives in National League One.

"I didn't really feel the heat at the time, we were young and there was a bunch of lads who all came through the academy and we were all playing together against established Championship clubs for the first time really. Looking back at anything around that time, we looked like we had no idea what we were doing but we were getting by on just being pretty good at Rugby. We were all a bunch of mates of a similar ilk and age, we were all connected and so although it ended up being a pretty grim couple of years for the club, we felt like we enjoyed it anyway."

Back at Widnes, Fax found themselves facing a York Knights side they'd comfortably beaten at The Shay 37-20 just 2 weeks earlier in the semi finals.

The Halifax team that finals day - Scott Grix, James Haley, James Bunyan, Alan Hadcroft, Rikki Sheriffe, Simon Grix, Ben Black, Jon Simpson, Mark Moxon, Chris Birchall, Jamie Bloem, Ged Corcoran and Pat Weisner. Ben Feehan, David Bates, Gareth Greenwood and player coach Anthony Farrell started on the bench.

The York side included a young Danny Brough, who would go on to be a teammate of Grix's at both Wakefield Trinity and Huddersfield Giants later on in their respective careers. And as kick off approached that day, the nerves inevitably started to kick in.

"I'm one of those, stomping round the changing room in my undies 2 hours before kick off talking about stuff and being nervous. I've obviously played a lot of games since that day but I wouldn't say that one felt any different to all the other big games I've played in, I just always get those feelings before a game."

Any pre match nerves he might've had soon disappeared though, as Fax raced into an early 12-0 lead after just ten minutes thanks to tries from Alan Hadcroft and James Bunyan.

But back came the Knights with three scores of their own from Jim Elston and a brace from Austin Buchanan countering a Rikki Sheriffe four pointer to send the sides in at the break all square at 16-16.

A Brough penalty edged York into a slender lead on the hour mark. But what happened next sent shivers down the spines of everybody from Halifax. Errors and lapses in concentration cost the men in blue and white dearly.

"These games come down to moments, and there's a few moments there - a 40/20 that Rikki knocked back in, there was a couple of things that put us straight under the pump. I remember a couple of moments either side that put us in a bad spin."

It looked like things were getting out of control as York raced into a big lead, comdemning Fax to the real prospect of back to back league relegations. Mark Cain and Chris Langley crossed to put the Knights 30-16 up with just 15 minutes to play, and things were looking bleak for Anthony Farrell's side.

But then came the moment that changed everything. In the 70th minute, Alan Hadcroft stretched out for his second of the game to cut the defecit, which was sent up to the video referee for further inspection.

This delay in play seemed to stifle the momentum the National League Two side had been generating and once the score was finally awarded, it gave Fax the confidence and the impetus to go on a run of their own.

Sheriffe redeemed himself for the earlier error with a brilliant break up field to set up the position for Bunyan to crash over for his second of the game in the 74th minute. Fax were well and truly on a roll now!

And then came the magic moment...

"In that period, I'd have been looking for someone to take the reigns a bit, stand up and get everyone on their back. We felt like we just had to keep playing and it would happen. We'd rattled them with the first two tries, and we felt like they weren't connected at that point."

"I remember getting the pass off Gaz Greenwood and I remember feeling someone almost go past me. Not that I ran out of room because I had the whole field on that side to work with but I felt like I'd hit a dead end as there was no-one really with me."

"At that point, they were scrambling for their lives trying to get the ball back and I'd seen the show and go and I felt the defender hadn't pushed inside to close the gap. I kinda put the breaks on, it wasn't the most gracious show and go ever but I managed to pull through and get over."

Grix raced over under the sticks to send the Fax end of the ground into absolute raptures, mobbed by his teammates and watching the Knights players fall to their knees, in that moment Scott felt something he doesn't usually on a Rugby field.

"That might've been the first time, obviously I scored a try or two that year, but I don't know if I've felt a connection with a crowd like I did for that one. I've never been a badge kisser or one to run to the crowd celebrating or anything like that. I've always been a background man, I'd rather be assisting than scoring to keep all the heat off but at that point it was different."

"All my family was there, I knew it was a pretty big deal for the club, and it all hit me in one swoop in that second what a big occasion it was and how much it meant."

And so it was, Fax had scored three tries in six minutes right at the death to secure a 34-30 victory in the most dramatic fashion, and with it, the great escape had happened against all the odds.

"It was weird because we were celebrating something that we were almost embarrassed and filthy about being involved in. It wasn't really a celebration, it was more of a relief thing, a 'thank f**k for that' kind of thing."

"I remember we came straight back to The Shay and the main Grand Final was on the TV in there, we had a couple of beers and that in our Halifax gear, and we kind of kicked on and had a couple in town but I kind of got the feeling that people were giving us attention and congratulating us but we felt we hadn't won a major final or anything. In my head, I was thinking, we're celebrating like we've won the Challenge Cup when actually we've just consolodated everyone's jobs and our club for a little bit longer. It was a weird one, a strange feeling. It was bittersweet."

"It was the biggest game of my career at that point whether the reasons were right or wrong to end up in that match. My affiliation with the club was always going to be good because it's my town, grew up playing at Siddal, I sat at Thrum Hall, came through the academy, I was always going to be connected to this club."

"And I feel like I've always been super close to the club even though I've only played at 50 games in total for Halifax. When I came back later, I felt like it was my club and I'd had a big part in it when really, I hadn't that much. It was there at the start and at the end, and if it wasn't for that York game, I probably wouldn't have that feeling."

"And if I'm honest, everybody else probably doesn't have that feeling towards me either. It probably goes two fold, you know, the fans of that era, the staff that were there at the time - some of them are still dotted around now, it was a pretty big deal for them, so my connection with the club runs a little bit deeper than the 50 games really."

"I'm glad that I could do that, even though I'm not in the hall of fame conversations or anything like that, I feel like I've been around the club and had that connection with everyone. That's why me and Simon felt like it was important that we finished our careers at Halifax where it all started for both of us, I feel like we had that drive that it's our club and we wanted to be thought of more than just that short stint we had at the beginning."

And so Fax had survived thanks to Scott's heroics with the hometown hero forever writing his name into club folklore, but there will always be one burning question that remains on everyone's minds:

Did Hadcroft get that ball down?

"I'm just saying yeah. [laughs] Never in doubt!"