Championship round-up: Play-off race takes huge twist as League 1 champions crowned to claim cash prize

North Wales Crusaders are the champions of League 1 after a comfortable victory against Keighley Cougars ensured they will finish top of the third tier in 2025.

Carl Forster’s side have led the way for most of this season and they deservedly secured their place at top spot after defeating Alan Kilshaw’s Cougars 30-10 to guarantee they cannot be overtaken at the summit.

There will be no official promotion, though Crusaders will play in the expanded Championship and League 1 competition next season. However, they have claimed a cash prize of £50,000 as a result of being top of the league.

In the Championship, the play-off race looks as though it will go right to the wire with a huge game set for next weekend between Widnes Vikings and Halifax Panthers at The Shay.

The Panthers return home for the first time in several months in a rich vein of form, having notched up a third straight win on Sunday afternoon by defeating Barrow Raiders in Cumbria to stay sixth in the table.

Kyle Eastmond’s side won 48-10 to remain in the driving seat for a place in the play-offs with just two games to go. However, one of those games is against the side sat in seventh and just one point below them, Allan Coleman’s Vikings. They were victorious again on Sunday as they defeated Hunslet 40-12 to keep the heat up on the Panthers.

Featherstone are fifth, after inflicting another defeat on Sheffield Eagles: while Oldham confirmed their place in the top four after a narrow, nail-biting victory over Doncaster, winning 13-12. Ryan Brierley’s drop goal proved to be the difference and potentially season-ending for Doncaster’s play-off hopes.

They are now three points behind the Panthers with just two games remaining, and would need a miraculous set of results to make the top six from here.

Championship results: Sunday 31 August

Oldham 13-12 Doncaster
Barrow Raiders 10-48 Halifax Panthers
Widnes Vikings 40-12 Hunslet
Sheffield Eagles 10-30 Featherstone Rovers

League 1 results: Sunday 31 August

North Wales Crusaders 30-10 Keighley Cougars
Dewsbury Rams 40-4 Midlands Hurricanes
Goole Vikings 30-12 Newcastle Thunder
Workingont Town 36-4 Rochdale Hornets