Championship Round-up 22 – Top two share the spoils
In the most hotly-anticipated Kingstone Press Championship fixture in years, the spoils were shared as Leigh Centurions maintained their place at the top of the table following a 36-all draw with Bradford Bulls at Odsal.
In front of a 2015 Championship record crowd of 9,181, hat-tricks from Omari Caro and Johnny Pownall were the highlights, where the attendance easily topped the competition’s previous best of 7,449 set in the Round One duel between the same two sides back in February.
Jay Pitts, Danny Addy and Matty Blythe were the other tryscorers for Bradford, who led 20-12 at the break, while Ryan Shaw kicked six goals.
Gareth Hock, Greg Worthington and Ryan Brierley scored the other tries for Leigh, while Martyn Ridyard kicked six goals to help his side to a sixth successive win.
Elsewhere, Sheffield Eagles made sure of their place in the Middle 8 with a 38-28 win over Featherstone Rovers, who will be left to play in the Championship Shield.
Rob Worrincy and Menzie Yere both scored twice for the Eagles and others came from Duane Straugher, Michael Knowles and Sam Smeaton, with former Rover Kyle Briggs kicking five goals.
Centre Thomas Minns, who is joining Hull KR at the end of the season, scored four of Rovers’ six tries, Paul Sykes and Reni Maitua getting the others, but it wasn’t enough for Jon Sharp’s men to produce the result they needed.
Also in South Yorkshire, Dane Manning marked the 150th appearance of his career with two first half tries to put Halifax on their way to a 52-0 Kingstone Press Championship victory over Doncaster.
Substitute Ryan Maneely and centre Steve Tyrer also touched down twice.
Their other tries came from Tom Saxton, Andy Bracek and Ben Johnston as Richard Marshall’s side built on their 18-0 half time lead to secure an eighth straight win and seal their place in the top four.
In Cumbria, Dewsbury leapfrogged London Broncos into sixth place thanks to a 34-16 win over Whitehaven at the Recreation Ground.
Winger Dale Morton touched down in each half and Nathan Conroy, Scott Hale, Toby Adamson and Joel Farrell got the others for the Rams, who led 12-6 at the break.
Declan Hulme, Craig Calvert and Ben Davies scored tries for the Cumbrians, who slip to 10th in the table following the reverse, with Louis Jouffret kicking two goals.
Following Haven’s defeat, Workington leapfrogged their Cumbrian neighbours into eighth spot with their 29-18 victory over London Broncos at Derwent Park, where Scotland international Brett Phillips marked his 100th career appearance with a try.
Kurt Horton, Lewis Tierney and Kris Coward scored Town’s other touchdowns while former Bronco Jarrod Sammut kicked two goals and a drop goal.
London have now fallen to seventh in the table as centre Ben Hellewell touched down in each half for the Broncos, with Joe Keyes getting their other try and Wes Naiqama kicking three goals.
Finally, in a relegation four-pointer in West Yorkshire, Batley Bulldogs ran in eight tries in a 45-28 victory over Hunslet Hawks, who have now lost their last nine matches.
Alex Brown (two), Luke Blake, Sean Hesketh, Tom Lillycrop, Brad Day, Shaun Squires and Joe Chandler were the Bulldogs’ tryscorers, with Scott Leatherbarrow kicking six goals and a drop goal.
Hooker Jack Lee scored two of the Hawks’ tries, with the others coming from Callum Casey, Jim Watson and Andy Yates, while Simon Brown kicked four goals for Barry Eaton‘s men, who drop to 11th in the table.