On the night of All Hallows, Danny Brough did not know whether to get on his knees to beg forgiveness or in supplication after his team dragged their Rugby League European Championship title hopes from the grave with a gutsy second-half recovery at Netherdale last night.

Tries in the last eight minutes by twin brothers Adam and Jonathan Walker - both powered in from close range - meant that, even in defeat, Scotland remain in title contention, leading the table on points differential with France out of contention by a single point, while Ireland must now beat Wales by 41 points in Wrexham on Sunday if they are to overhaul the Scots.

However, Scotland's captain ­experienced extremes of emotion, expressing shame at a first-half performance in which seven tries were conceded to rampant opponents, before acknowledging that they had redeemed themselves with the 16 unanswered second-half points that could be just enough.

"I don't think it's job done, not at all. It will be anxious but we can't do anything about that result [in Wrexham]; we've just got to hope and pray that we can get through," Brough said.

The home side had gone into the tournament's closing weekend as the only unbeaten team in the competition and looking favourites both to take the title and the place in the prestigious 2016 Four Nations tournament against Australia, England and New Zealand that comes with it.

By contrast France, the pre-tournament favourites, knew they needed to win by at least 18 points to have any chance of winning the competition after their shock opening-day defeat in Ireland, but this was much more the way they had been expected to perform, while Scotland's cause was all but lost during an opening half that was as horrific from as anything he could have feared experiencing on this particular night of the year.

Scotland's recklessness in possession was compounded by appallingly slack defending and Brough said harsh words had been spoken at half-time. "For an international game that first half was diabolical and I hope that never happens again," he said, "You can throw the ball away if you're going to defend but we couldn't defend. It was a game of two halves. We killed ourselves, but we showed a bit of character at the end to come back."

He did take some pride from the fact that, albeit belatedly, his men showed their true character. "We do have that never-say-die attitude, but we lost it in that first half and that's not us," he said. "We don't thrive on big plays, we're just knock-about lads who try to work hard for each other and we didn't do that in the first half, but in the second half we did and we scored some points which we can be pretty pleased with."

It had looked like being a much more comfortable evening for the hosts when Ben Kavanagh forced his way in for the game's opening score inside two minutes.

However, the result was decided in the visitors favour with an electrifying 20-minute burst of classic French flair during which they ran their hosts ragged with five tries, including a hat-trick from Remy Marginet, as they repeatedly carved openings down their left flank. Their captain Jason Baltieri and Eloi Pelissier claimed the other scores.

When they then switched their attention to the other side of the field at the end of the half and created a score for Tony Gigot, which Marginet converted brilliantly from the right touchline to take his personal haul to 22 points, even getting the differential back to what was required looked beyond Scotland.

It was certainly not the platform the team had hoped to set for the introduction to the crowd of Scottish rugby league greats David Rose, George Fairbairn, John Risman, Bob Valentine and the Cowan brothers Stan and Ron, yet the warm reception they received seemed to lift the home team, who were transformed in the second period.

A sustained spell of attacking play early in the half failed to produce a score but, undaunted, they showed much more composure on the ball and more resilience when without it and dominated the half.

Even so it was into the final quarter before they eventually scored, Ben Helliwell sprinting 40 metres for the score, although it still looked too little, too late.

However, the momentum had completely shifted and, with the French now making crucial errors, the Scots maintained the pressure in the closing stages until first Adam Walker and then his brother Jonathan, who had missed last week's meeting with Ireland through suspension, battered their way in for those vital scores.