The Championship Chat: Round 13

Batley beat neighbours at the Mount
Batley Bulldogs kept up their assault for a place in the top four with a 32-16 victory over fellow contenders Halifax. Batley were 10-6 up at the break after tries from Wayne Reittie and Shaun Ainscough were countered by Fax’s Steve Tyrer, who got on the scoresheet himself. The lead changed hands early on in the second half as debutant Matt Sarsfield crossed the chalk for the visitors. However, two tries in eight minutes from John Kear’s men put eight points between the sides as the hosts managed to get some breathing space. Reittie and Pat Walker were the try-scorers before former Bulldog Ben Heaton made sure there’d be a more slightly nervy ending as he touched down, although James Brown and Dave Scott both registered tries in the dying embers of the tie. A g reat victory for Batley.

Bulls triumph in front of new boss
Rohan Smith was at the Provident Stadium on Sunday as he watched his new side, Bradford Bulls, breeze past Swinton Lions 54-8. The Bulls were 20-0 up at the break after two tries from James Clare while Omari Caro and Adam Sidlow both crossed the whitewash too. Bradford’s Danny Addy and Swinton’s Josh Barlow were both sent to the sin-bin during the half as a brawl occurred after a spell of ill discipline. The Bulls notched four tries in the opening 12 minutes of the half as they extended their lead handsomely. Kris Welham, Oscar Thomas, Tom Olbison and Addy all touched down for the hosts to make the score 44-0. Swinton responded with two tries of their own in quick succession courtesy of Liam Marshall and Rhodri Lloyd but the final word rightly went to Bradford, as they surpassed the 50 point mark with tries from Lee Gaskell and Caro. 

Fev pick up big win ahead of tough schedule
Featherstone Rovers showed their top four credentials in all their glory on Sunday as they defeated London Broncos 42-18 at the Big Fellas Stadium. The Rovers were 24-6 up at the break after tries came courtesy of Jamie Foster, Luke Briscoe, Jack Ormondroyd and Danny Craven. London’s lone score of the half went to Daniel Harrison. Eddie Battye was sin-binned for London in the final minutes of the first period and the Rovers took advantage in the shape of Craven’s try. Foster had also kicked a penalty goal in the first 40 minutes as he made amends for a missed conversion earlier on in the half. He also racked up another goal at the start of the second half when he opted to take the two with the opportunity too good to turn down. Iliess Macani cut into the deficit with a four pointer for the visitors but the Rovers weren’t going to be denied their victory as Briscoe notched his second try of the game with the final quarter approaching. Anthony Thackeray was next on the scoresheet for Featherstone as the game petered out during the final quarter. Craven and Elliot Kear exchanged scores in the last few minutes of the tie.

Leigh professional against Oldham
The division’s table-toppers showed why they are just that against a tricky Oldham side who have defeated many established sides on home turf this season. A 56-14 win will have pleased the Leigh fans who have seen last year’s League Leaders Shield winners get their campaign back on track after a sluggish start. The Roughyeds broke the deadlock on 14 minutes when Danny Grimshaw went 60 metres to the whitewash after Leigh had fumbled the ball. However, the Centurions struck 26 points without reply before the break as Neil Jukes’ men gained full control on proceedings. Reni Maitua, Lee Smith, Martyn Ridyard, Liam Kay and Liam Hood were the try-scorers for the visitors. Within the space of seven second half minutes, Leigh had notched up three tries and were moving ever closer to the 50-point mark. Maitua recorded his second score of the match before Tom Armstrong and Ben Reynolds also treated themselves to a try apiece. The heavy scoring continued in the final quarter as Jamie Acton and Dayne Weston both burst over the line. Oldham didn’t back down though even though the end result was long gone. Liam Johnson and Danny Langtree concluded the action with a try each.

Workington gain second win by edging Eagles
Workington Town beat Sheffield Eagles 37-30 at the SHU Sports Park on Saturday as Phil Veivers’ men started to look up the table to try and revive their season. The Cumbrians held a 12 point lead at the break after tries went the way of Jarrad Stack, Perry Whiteley and Carl Forber. The latter also kicked a penalty goal during the half. Garry Lo notched twice for the Eagles as he made his return to first team action after a shoulder injury. In the second half, Whiteley added his second try of the game on 46 minutes as he compounded Sheffield’s misery even further. A Forber penalty goal made amends for the missed conversion and the Eagles were staring down the barrel. Ben Blackmore and Scott Wheeldon both crossed the whitewash for the hosts as they looked to be on their way back into the contest despite being on the wrong end of the scoreline for the most part. However, things took a turn for the worst when Kris Coward touched down for Town to create even more breathing space for the Championship strugglers. Jarrod Sammut was then sent to the sin-bin for an altercation with Cory Aston but that didn’t deter the visitors at all. Whiteley completed his hat-trick with 13 minutes left on the clock and with the score reading 36-18 to Town, it was pretty much game over. A converted Rob Worrincy try gave the Eagles some hope but great game management from Forber saw him kick a drop-goal to extend his side’s lead to three scores. The final try went to Aston after nice work from Steve Thorpe and Quentin Laulu-Togagae.

Dewsbury bounce back
After a disappointing loss to Sheffield Eagles in round 12, Glenn Morrison‘s Dewsbury Rams got back on track with a 36-16 triumph against Whitehaven at the Recreation Ground. Only two tries were scored in the first half and both went to the visitors through Dalton Grant and Paul Sykes. Sykes converted both while his side kept their opponents to a blank. Whitehaven got on the board with the first try of the second half, however. Evergreen winger Craig Calvert touched down for the Cumbrians and Louis Jouffret was on target with the conversion. Next over the chalk for Whitehaven was Connor Holliday and after another successful conversion from Jouffret, the score was all tied up at 12 apiece. Haven just couldn’t pass their counterparts on the scoreboard, though. Two quick tries from Shane Grady and Sykes restored Dewsbury’s advantage and they didn’t look back from there. Dave Allen did cut into the deficit in the final ten minutes but the Rams kept their cool and managed to score two more tries before the end. Grant completed his brace before Josh Guzdek also touched down to seal the win.