Championship round-up: Whitehaven punish Widnes, Broncos buck Sheffield & Bradford beat York
Round 19 of the Betfred Championship saw a number of large scores across six fixtures this weekend…
Newcastle seemed to be well rested after their fixture against Sheffield was postponed due to Covid-19 as they ran out 43-22 victors against Dewsbury at the Tetley’s Stadium to move up to ninth place.
Josh Johnson scored twice and there were more tries from Calum Turner, Jake Shorrocks, Josh Woods, Connor Bailey and Matty Wright for the visitors.
Halifax sit in third place after a 48-12 victory over Swinton. Brandon Moore scored twice inside the first quarter of an hour and the Panthers piled on more points through tries from James Saltonstall, Ben Kavanagh and Liam Harris.
The visitors got off the mark in the second half through Rhodri Lloyd and Will Hope but the Lions could not stop the onslaught of tries with 20 minutes to go as Halifax ran away with the lead.
Gideon Boafo shined as he scored a first-half hat-trick in London’s victory over Sheffield. Ryan Johnson and Blake Broadbent scored for the visitors before the second half saw the Broncos run in five tries in an all-round dominant display.
Dean Parata, Brett Ferres and Craig Kopczak all got two tries each as Featherstone romped to victory over Oldham. Kris Welham, Dale Ferguson and Alex Walker also scored for the visitors as they continued their dominance within the league.
Whitehaven punished Widnes and made it six home wins in a row as ten different players scored for the hosts. Lloyd Roby scored the Vikings only try in the 60th minute and Andrew Bulman grabbed a brace for the home side.
Whitehaven now sit within touching distance of the Betfred Championship play-off places in seventh position whilst Widnes sit in 11th.
Finally, Bradford visited the LNER Stadium as they took on York. It was the visiting side that broke the deadlock with Jordan Lilley and Ben Evans scoring within the first 20 minutes before Ryan Atkins hit back for the hosts.
Dee Foggin-Johnston scored late in the second half whilst a Rhys Evans hat-trick secured a 36-18 victory for the Bulls.
Championship Round 19 results:
Dewsbury Rams 22 – 43 Newcastle Thunder
Halifax Panthers 48 – 12 Swinton Lions
London Broncos 42 – 12 Sheffield Eagles
Oldham 10 – 48 Featherstone Rovers
Whitehaven 64 – 6 Widnes Vikings
York City Knights 18 – 36 Bradford Bulls