It was a full Sunday of Kingstone Press Championship fixtures with all eyes on the battle for the top four positions. Leigh Centurions had the chance of sealing the minor premiership with any kind of win.
Batley Bulldogs, Halifax, Bradford Bulls and Featherstone Rovers were all still in the scrap for a top four finish.
What would unfold was a high scoring round with over fifty tries spread between the six games.
Leigh Centurions made no mistake in sealing the minor premiership with two games to spare as they romped to a 58-18 win against Halifax which pushed their visitors right back into the top four battle. First half tries from Paterson, Higson, Worthington, Drinkwater and Dixon saw just a single response from Halifax's Johnston for a 34-6 lead at the interval. Paterson added another just after the break for 40-6 before Johnston got a second for 'Fax and Sharp added their third to narrow the margin to 40-18. The closing twenty minutes were all the centurions with Dixon, Moimoi and Kay all scoring four pointer to see the home side romp home.
With Halifax losing, Batley could have come close to cementing their top four place with a win over Featherstone Rovers but it turned into a one-sided affair in the visitors favour which saw them to within a point of a top four finish. A Bostock try and three Briggs goals gave Rovers a 10-0 interval lead and four tries in ten minutes from Briggs, Hardman, Golding and Channing extended the lead to 34-0. Ulugia scored a seventy-eighth minute try to avoid a humiliating nilling but it was Featherstone's day with a 34-4 win.
Bradford Bulls kept their hopes of a top four finish alive with a massacre of Whitehaven by 64-18, the Bulls coring all their points in the first forty-six minutes before easing off. First half tries from Ryan (2), Sidlow, Chisolm (2), Welham, Moss, Philbin and Crossley sprinted the Bulls into an unassailable 52-0 lead. Ryan completed his hat-trick on forty-two and Clare scored on forty-six before the Bulls put the queue on the rack. Whitehaven gained some respectability with three tries from Chapelhow, Newton and Brocklebank but it was far too little, far too late.
London Broncos were unlikely to finish anywhere other than second but a loss to Sheffield Eagles was somewhat unexpected. Williams opened the London scoring but James, Fozard and Robin all scored for the Eagles in the first half for an 18-4 lead. Laulu-Togagae, Yere and Straughier made it 32-4 to the visitors but Eliab and Ackers added late home tries for a final score of 32-12.
Workington and Dewsbury fought out a close battle which saw the West Yorkshire side escape with a 20-16 win. Hulme had given Workington the lead but Morton, Tonks and Walshaw edged the Rams into a 14-6 lead at the break. Olstrum and Ritson, on fifty-nine, edged Workington into the lead on the hour mark at 16-14 but a Kain converted try on sixty-five sealed the points for Dewsbury.
Despite Swinton leading by 14-6 at half time away to Oldham it was the home side who had the better of the second half to win a close game by 26-24.
Batley against London and Halifax against Featherstone next Sunday will have a lot to say about the final top four. |