The Championship Chat: Round 11

Leigh battle past Fev
In a close contest at the Big Fellas Stadium, Neil Jukes’ Centurions regained their place at the top of the Championship table with a 30-24 victory over Featherstone. Despite having two players – Jamie Acton and Gareth Hock – sent to the sin-bin either side of half-time, the visitors showed enough quality and determination to pick up a well-fought win. Tries for Leigh came from Tom Armstong, Acton, Rangi Chase, Lee Smith and Liam Kay while Rovers got on the scoresheet through Andy Ellis, Bradley Tagg, Misi Taulapapa and Kyran Johnson. Featherstone still have a lot to play for as they hold a game in hand on fourth place Batley and even a draw in that game would put Jon Sharp’s men above the Bulldogs.

London hammer Sheffield
It’s certainly tough times for the Eagles at the moment. They were defeated once again last Friday, this time at the hands of London Broncos who are coached by ex-Eagle Andrew Henderson. The Broncos won 56-24 in South Yorkshire as they climbed to the top of the table for a couple of days before Leigh beat Featherstone. William Barthau was the star man for the capital side. The Frenchman scored a hat-trick and he has certainly been a pivotal player in London’s rise to the top four this year. Rhys Williams and Matt Garside both scored two tries each while Wes Naiqama, Andy Ackers and Alex Foster all notched a try apiece. Ben Blackmore, Menzie Yere, Rob Worrincy, Cory Aston and Mark Mexico crossed the whitewash for the hosts during the match.

Lions roar in Yorkshire as Dogs are downed
Swinton Lions won their fourth game on the trot as they got the better of Batley Bulldogs 32-24 at the Fox’s Biscuits Stadium. They have really shown their worth in the past few weeks and John Duffy’s men will be looking to go from strength to strength after another uplifting victory. Liam Marshall kept up his impressive try-scoring form by adding two more to his tally against the Bulldogs, while fellow dual-registered Wigan youngster Gabriel Fell got on the scoresheet alongside him. Bradford loanee Vila Halafihi got a try out of dummy-half and the other two tries for the visitors came from Shaun Robinson and Ben White. Batley’s four tries were evenly split between prop forward Adam Gledhill and fullback Dave Scott.

Lowes ends Bradford tenure with win
James Lowes’ final game as coach of Bradford Bulls ended in a resounding 52-16 victory over Workington Town. Lowes, who is a legend after his playing days with the Bradford club, resigned from the post in mid-week but stayed on for one last game alongside temporary coach Matt Diskin. Danny Williams and Omari Caro scored two tries each for the Bulls while other four pointers came from Mitch Clark, Adrian Purtell, James Clare, Kris Welham, Oscar Thomas and Dale Ferguson. Workington were only 22-10 down at the break after a Chris Murphy brace kept the Cumbrians in with a chance. However, only one try in the second half, which came from Jack Murphy, meant Phil Veivers’ men didn’t stand a chance against a side of Bradford’s calibre.

Halifax edge past Yorkshire rivals
Richard Marshall’s Halifax side sparked life into their bid for a top four finish with a 23-14 win against Dewsbury Rams. Fax held a 12-8 lead at half-time after tries from Gareth Moore and Gareth Potts. Dalton Grant scored the only try of the first period for Dewsbury, James Glover converted the score and added a penalty goal soon after. In the second half, Adam Tangata extended the hosts’ lead with a 45th minute try and goal-kicker Steve Tyrer then converted before slotting over a penalty goal a few minutes later. Marshall’s men were pegged back less than ten minutes later when Etu Uaisele crossed the whitewash for the Rams. Fax had to battle hard for their victory and the defence was superb while the attack added three more points in the shape of a Tyrer penalty goal and a Scott Murrell one-pointer.

Whitehaven burst the Oldham bubble
In the only game on Saturday afternoon, Whitehaven beat Oldham 14-6 at the Recreation Ground. Haven leapfrogged Scott Naylor’s team with the victory and, after the weekend’s games had concluded, Oldham were in the relegation zone. The Roughyeds did open the scoring first through Jack Holmes but Haven replied later on in the half as Chris Taylor and Craig Calvert crossed the whitewash. The Cumbrians were 12-6 up at the break and with only two points scored in the second half, the result went the way of Whitehaven. Louis Jouffret kicked a penalty goal to make it a two score game and Oldham just couldn’t get past the Haven defence to threaten the end result.