Championship Round-up: London lose again as Halifax and Leigh close gap on top four
London Broncos suffered a third successive defeat as Halifax did their own and Leigh’s top four ambitions no harm on Sunday afternoon.
After being turned over by Toulouse and Leigh over the Easter weekend, previous leaders London were beaten 26-16 at The Shay.
The Broncos led 10-4 before three tries in six minutes in the lead up to the half time hooter turned the game on its head for the hosts, who had two men in the sin in the first half.
Steve Tyrer’s score early in the second half stretched the lead to 26-10 and it proved too much for the visitors, despite Will Lovell’s score 12 minutes from time.
That was a good result for Leigh, who have turned a corner since they too were beaten at Halifax.
The Centurions ran in 12 tries in a 68-10 demolition of Rochdale Hornets to record their fourth successive victory in the Championship.
Craig Hall scored two tries starting at centre, while half-back Ben Reynolds chipped in with 28 points, including 10 goals.
Warrington’s Declan Patton started at half-back for Rochdale as part of their dual-registration partnership.
Toronto remain top of the Championship after they came from behind at half-time to win 26-18 at Batley.
Playing up the infamous Mount Pleasant hill in the first half, the Wolfpack took the lead through captain Josh McCrone on seven minutes.
They would trail 12-6 at the break though after Wayne Reittie’s score in the corner.
But recent signing Gareth O’Brien led the comeback after the break, scoring a hat-trick of tries inside 15 second half minutes to put the Wolfpack in control.
Jack Bussey’s try on 69 minutes would ultimately make the points safe, despite Brad Day’s score in the final minute of the match which came after Sam Hopkins was sin binned for a dangerous tackle.
Featherstone continue to outline their status as serious contenders for the Championship with a 46-18 win over Dewsbury.
Rovers trailed 18-10 after half an hour, but bounced back to score 24 unanswered points in the second half.
Matty Wildie scored a hat-trick of tries, while Leeds youngster Harry Newman added to his record breaking hat-trick last week with another two at the LD Nutrition Stadium.
Connor Farrell scored a brace while Luke Briscoe’s record-breaking run continued as he touched down for the 12th match in a row.
Toulouse continued their prolific start to the season with a 50-4 win at home to Barrow.
The French side have now scored 386 points in 10 games this season and sit just a point behind Toronto in second.
Eddy Pettybourne was among the nine different try scorers for Olympique, with full-back Mark Kheirallah registering 18 points.
Swinton remain winless at the bottom of the Championship as they were beaten 19-18 at home to fellow strugglers Sheffield.
Simon Brown’s 77th minute drop goal broke Lions hearts after the hosts had fought back from 18-8 to tie things up.
Chris Hankinson’s early penalty had given Swinton the lead but they trailed 12-2 at half time thanks to a Ben Blackmore double.
Swinton announced the signing of Brad Billsborough from Whitehaven at half time, and on the pitch they dragged themselves back within a score after a converted Marcus Webb try.
Illies Macani made it 18-8 on 52 minutes, leaving Swinton with it all to do.
They dug deep, Craig Mullen scoring shortly after the hour, though Hankinson would miss the conversion.
Hankinson levelled things up, converting his own try on 74 minutes, before Brown stepped up late on to snatch only Sheffield’s second win of the season.
Batley 18-26 Toronto
Featherstone 46-18 Dewsbury
Halifax 26-16 London B
Leigh 68-10 Rochdale
Swinton 18-19 Sheffield
Toulouse 50-4 Barrow