Championship RL results and round-up: Featherstone rack up 70 as fight for survival hots up

Another weekend of Championship rugby has been and gone with 12 of the 14 teams serving up some intriguing encounters whilst Barrow and York await tomorrow night in front of the Premier Sports cameras in a clash between two play-off hopefuls.

Nonetheless this weekend’s action began in Leigh where the Centurions ended Sheffield’s recent good form with a 34-6 win just hours after announcing the signing of former State of Origin star Blake Ferguson.

It was another productive night for Krisnan Inu who kicked five goals whilst key players Adam Sidlow and Ed Chamberlain crossed for tries. The on loan Tom Holmes scored Sheffield’s only four-pointer.

On Saturday, Halifax continued their fantastic run with a 30-10 win over Newcastle which left them fourth in the table at the end of the day.

The damage was done in the first half with the Panthers scoring five tries and leading 24-6. Lachlan Walmsley scored twice as they ran riot against the Thunder.

There were four games today including an important if difficult win for Batley as they leapfrogged Halifax into fourth with a win over Workington Dane Manning scoring the winning try after good work from Tom Gilmore.

The biggest scoreline of the day came at Fev with the Rovers going back to the top of the league scoring 74 points against Widnes who this week parted company with their coach to little effect. There was a hat-trick for former Leeds Rhino Luke Briscoe and scores for Joey Leilua and former Cas man Jesse Sene-Lefao. Craig Hall scored one of three braces on the afternoon and kicked 11 goals scoring a total of 30 points.

Speaking of teams who have recently parted company with their coaches, Bradford claimed a win over Whitehaven this afternoon on the back of a first half which saw them lead 28-6 at the break. Jordan Lilley and Ebon Scurr were amongst the scorers whilst Dec Patton kicked five goals.

In today’s other game, London picked up a first win of the season against Dewsbury to cut the gap between the two sides and really hot up the race for survival. The on loan Dane Chisholm was key with a try and six goals whilst Dewsbury scored three tries but couldn’t land a single conversion. Now the Rams are sweating with just one point between them and the relegation spots.

Results in full:
Leigh Centurions 34-6 Sheffield Eagles
Newcastle Thunder 10-30 Halifax Panthers
Workington Town 10-16 Batley Bulldogs
Featherstone Rovers 74-6 Widnes Vikings
Whitehaven 22-34 Bradford Bulls
London Broncos 36-12 Dewsbury Rams
Barrow Raiders vs York City Knight – Monday live on Premier Sports 1