Championship Round-up 20 – Dewsbury shock Fev and Bulls back to winning ways
Jake Mullaney proved to be the outstanding player of the round as he scored four tries to help lead Bradford Bulls to a 68-6 win over Hunslet Hawks at the South Leeds Stadium.
The former NRL full back, operating in the halves in the absence of Lee Gaskell, was in ruthless form, while Danny Williams got a hat-trick, with Adam O’Brien, Matty Blythe, James Mendeika, Ryan Shaw, Etu Uaisele and Dale Ferguson also going over in the Bulls’ 13-try romp. Ryan Shaw kicked eight goals as Bradford bounced back in style from their home defeat by Featherstone on Wednesday.
Jack Lee responded with a converted try for the Hawks, but it proved to be little more than a consolation.
Meanwhile in Cumbria, Leigh Centurions kept the Championship leaders in their sights following a 50-12 win over Workington Town at Derwent Park.
The Centurions exploded into life with six tries in the final 20 minutes before before half-time. Ryan Brierley touched down twice, while Tom Spencer, Martyn Ridyard, Jonny Pownall and Adam Higson also went in to produce a 32-0 interval lead.
Kurt Haggerty, Micky Higham and Jake Emmitt added further tries for the visitors after the break and Ridyard took his goal tally to seven, while Jarrad Stack and Lewis Tierney scored tries for the Cumbrians, but they were well-beaten.
The Centurions are now just two points behind the Bradford with two games in hand.
In West Yorkshire, Halifax moved to within two points of third-placed Sheffield Eagles after producing one of their best performances of the season to overcome the Eagles 38-10 at the Shay.
Forwards Dane Manning and Adam Robinson both scored two tries apiece for the home side. Meanwhile Tommy Saxton, Ben Heaton and Ben Kaye also notched four-pointers, with Steve Tyrer kicking five goals.
The Eagles had opened the scoring through Kyle Briggs, who converted his own try, while Mitch Stringer got their second after the break, but it wasn’t enough as the Eagles’ place in the top four appears to be under threat for the first time.
At the BigFellas Stadium, Dewsbury Rams pulled off one of their best performances of the season as a second half fightback saw them prevail 32-30 over Featherstone Rovers.
The visitors were 20-8 down after tries from Ben Blackmore, Reni Maitua, Paul Sykes and Will Milner, Toby Adamson’s converted try and Brett Seymour‘s penalty keeping them in touch.
But Glenn Morrison‘s men dominated the second period, as a brace from Anthony Thackeray plus scores from Shane Grady on his return from injury and one from Aaron Brown saw them go ahead.
Jamie Cording and Remy Marginet scored Fev’s second half tries, but their efforts proved to be in vain as the Rams held on.
At the Hive, Jason Walton scored two tries on his debut as London Broncos kept their top-four hopes alive with a 40-24 win over Whitehaven.
Oscar Thomas also touched down twice for the men from the south, whose other tries came from Matt Garside, Iliess Macani and Jamie Thackray, with Wes Naiqama kicking five goals and William Barthau one.
Declan Hulme, scored a hat-trick for the Cumbrians, but his gallant effort, which came alongside tries from Chris Taylor and James Newton, wasn’t enough to cause a shock.
Finally, in a clash between the bottom two of the Kingstone Press Championship at the start of play, Bately Bulldogs produced their biggest win of the season, running out 34-6 winners against Doncaster at Mount Pleasant.
Shaun Squires and Wayne Reittie both scored two tries for the ‘Dogs, who were 24-0 up at the break, despite playing ‘up the slope’. Their other scores came from Alex Brown, Tom Lillycrop and Cain Southernwood, with Scott Leatherbarrow kicking three goals.
Paul Mennell gave the long-suffering Dons fans something to cheer late on, but the South Yorkshire side could not prevent their 24th-successive defeat.