Championship Round-up – Week 12
Kingstone Press Championship leaders Leigh Centurions recovered from a 6-10 half-time deficit to beat Halifax 22-14 in a match that saw both teams finish with 10 men following a huge brawl.
The home side were already down to 12 men after centre Tom Armstrong was sent off for an alleged head-butt when the match at Leigh Sports Village erupted 10 minutes from the end.
Leigh forward Jamie Acton was sent off, along with Halifax’s Steve Tyrer and Andy Bracek, while Mitch Cahalane of Fax and the Centurions’ Kurt Haggerty were shown yellow cards by referee Matt Thomason.
Tries from Scott Murrell and Ben Heaton hinted at a possible upset as the visitors carved out a four point lead at the interval, but Liam Kay, Greg Worthington, Tommy Goulden and Bob Beswick all crossed as the Centurions stormed back, Ryan Brierley and Martyn Ridyard adding goals.
Heaton scored his second try after the break but the Centurions eased to a 24th straight win ahead of next Sunday’s Challenge Cup-tie at Super League strugglers, Wakefield.
Meanwhile, second-placed Bradford Bulls maintained the pressure on Leigh with a 32-16 win at Whitehaven, their 11th successive victory.
The Bulls were 16-10 ahead at the break, Adrian Purtell and Danny Williams both scoring braces, with Lee Gaskell and Danny Addy also claiming tries. Whitehaven’s three tries came from Scott McAvoy, Connor Holliday and James Newton with Ed Chamberlain converting two of them, but it wasn’t enough to cause an upset.
In London, fourth-placed Featherstone Rovers continued their fine form of late with a 40-32 win over the Broncos
Rovers just shaded the 13-try thriller and had seven different try scorers as Ben Blackmore, Jy Hitchcox, Andy Bostock, Jamie Cording, Luke Teasdale, Nathan Chappell, and Jack Bussey all crossed, Paul Sykes adding six goals.
The hosts managed six tries themselves through Daniel Harrison, who scored twice, Jamie Thackray, Rhys Williams, Ben Hellewell and Jarrod Sammut. But Andrew Henderson‘s men couldn’t prevent their second successive home loss.
In West Yorkshire, Dewsbury Rams kept up the chase on the top four after running in 30 second-half points to complete a comfortable 40-4 victory over Hunslet Hawks.
The Rams only led 10-4 at the break but they eventually ran in seven tries with Dale Morton notching a hat trick, while brothers Luke and Toby Adamson also scored, with Anthony Thackeray and Brett Seymour adding extra gloss to the scoreline.
Seymour added six goals with Charlie Martin managing Hunslet’s solitary score as the Hawks slip to ninth.
Finally, Batley Bulldogs moved into eighth place with a 23-10 win at lowly Workington Town.
Wayne Reittie, Alistair Leak and James Craven crossed for the Bulldogs with the boot of Scott Leatherbarrow adding 11 points to hold Town at a safe distance.
The host’s tries came from Callum Phillips and Carl Forber, the latter adding a goal, but the defeat means the Cumbrians have now won only two of their 12 league games this season.