Leeds Rhinos gave coach Daryl Powell the perfect birthday present with a convincing victory over Halifax at The Shay.

The 37-year-old coach has been under pressure after a string of poor results, namely four defeats in the last five games.

Despite being without the injured Rob Burrow and Barrie McDermott, the Rhinos won in style and vindicated Powell's gamble of dropping out-of-sorts Ben Walker and restoring skipper Francis Cummins at full-back.

Leeds scored four converted tries without reply against Halifax, who have not won against a top five side this season.

The Blue Sox competed well for the first hour, but were blown away in the final 20 minutes by a Leeds side who grew in confidence as the game went on.

The Blue Sox still face a nervous couple of weeks on the fringes of the relegation zone, but this win all but guarantees Leeds a top six finish.

The visitors took an early lead through Kevin Sinfield's penalty and Mark Calderwood's try.

But Halifax responded when centre Stuart Donlan exploited a huge gap in the visitors' defence.

Leeds winger Karl Pratt restored their lead with a try in the corner, moments after having an identical effort ruled out for a knock-on.

Brave Halifax again responded in style, as Dave Woods gathered Gavin Clinch's chip and sent Donlan racing over for his second try.

Clinch's conversion ensured it was all square at the break.

Four minutes after the restart, Sinfield's penalty restored Leeds' lead.

And once Calderwood stepped through several tackles for his second try, there was no looking back for Leeds.

Sinfield added a conversion and then a penalty before the stand-off then dived over for a try of his own after Robbie Beckett had dropped a high kick.

From the kick-off, Leeds continued to press with Ryan Bailey and Pratt combining to create a score for Keith Senior.

Then, in the final minute, Pratt's cross-field kick created a try under the posts for Cummins.

Sinfield landed the conversion to take his tally to seven goals out of 10 on a personal haul of 18 points as Leeds wrapped up a well-deserved win.

Halifax: Flowers, Halpenny, Woods, Donlan, Beckett, Dunemann, Clinch, Gannon, Penkywicz, Birchall, McMenemy, Bloem, Brocklehurst.
Replacements: Hobson, Lawless, Thackray, Clayton.

Leeds: Cummins, Calderwood, C. Walker, Senior, Pratt, Sinfield, Sheridan, Ward, Diskin, Adamson, Carroll, Hay, Vowles.
Replacements: Poching, Jones-Buchanan, McGuire, Bailey.

Referee: Robert Connolly (Wigan).