Another weekend of fantastic Championship action is behind us as the season appears to be heading up the gears as the race for Super League spices up.
Speaking of the race for Super League, once front runners now chasers Featherstone Rovers got the weekend underway on the back of a shock defeat to Batley which saw them slip further behind pace setters Leigh in the table.
Jack Broadbent was the main man scoring four tries on only his second appearance since swapping Leeds for Fev. Jack Bussey also notched a brace in a comprehensive win.
It could’ve been worse for Newcastle who trailed 30-0 after half an hour but the injury to Mark Kheirallah seemed to stunt the Featherstone attack with Thunder only losing the rest of the game 28-22 with the contest ending 58-22.
Kheirallah’s injury and the groin problem that saw Johnathon Ford pull out at the last minute made it a less enjoyable day for Rovers fans.
Today, Widnes’ new chapter under John Kear enjoyed the perfect start as they ploughed passed Workington Town 38-0. They scored six tries with Jack Owens faultless with the boot converting all of them and notching a first half penalty to give the Vikings a 26-0 halftime lead.
Leigh were another big winner today beating old rivals Bradford 56-6 away to reopen the gap between themselves and Featherstone.
Krisnan Inu scored a hat-trick and notched eight goals whilst John Asiata and Kai O’Donnell bagged braces.
Today’s other big winners were Halifax who heaped more misery on the struggling Dewsbury Rams with a 38-12 win away from home.
The Rams were in the game at the break just trailing 16-6 but the Panthers would ease to victory in the end.
That defeat was compounded by a terrific comeback win for London at home against Sheffield. The Broncos trailed 28-0 at the break but ran in six tries without reply in the second half to win 36-28.
The winner came from Macani and was converted by Oli Leyland before a sixth try in the last minute wrapped things up.
There was also late drama at Batley where Dale Morton’s hattrick try secured a draw for the Bulldogs and sustained their six game unbeaten run. Tom Gilmore was left ruing missed goal kicks sadly converting just one. Had one more gone over victory would have gone to the Bulldogs.
In another tight game, York were beaten at home by Barrow with Jarrod Sammutt shining and scoring a brace.
Results in full:
Featherstone Rovers 58-22 Newcastle Thunder
Workington Town 0-38 Widnes Vikings
Batley Bulldogs 26-26 Whitehaven
Dewsbury Rams 12-38 Halifax Panthers
London Broncos 36-28 Sheffield Eagles
Bradford Bulls 6-56 London Broncos
York City Knights 16-24 Barrow Raiders
