With the fixtures spread over three days, there was a disjointed feel about round three of the Betfred Championship as the sides jostled for early season league points and positions.
Friday night saw the Sheffield Eagles host the Bradford Bulls while Toronto and Widnes went head to head on Saturday afternoon. Also on Saturday, Toulouse took on Rochdale in the south of France while the remainder of the games were played out on Sunday.
The Rams faced Swinton, Halifax welcomed the Batley Bulldogs, Leigh were at home to Featherstone while York were visited by Barrow.
On Friday night, despite trailing at half-time, the Sheffield Eagles fought back brilliantly to beat the Bradford Bulls by 24-6. Report here.
Saturday afternoon saw the Rochdale Hornets travel to Toulouse and take the lead through a Wood try on sixteen. Three tries in eleven minutes from Marguerite, Ford and Robin put Toulouse in control and when Kheirallah added another before the break it was 22-6 at the turn around. Marguerite got his second just after the restart and Bergal made it 34-6 before Rochdales second from Akauola saw the visitors into double digits. Robin and Barthau scored the home sides seventh and eight tries late on for a commanding 42-12 win and Olympiques first victory of their 2019 campaign.
On Saturday evening Toronto played their home fixture with the Widnes Vikings in Newcastle and romped to a 30-6 win. Report here.
It was a walk in the park for the York City Knights as they demolished Barrow to climb to third in the league table. First half tries from Batchelor (2), Paterson and Salter gave them a 26-0 interval lead and they kicked on in the secoond half. Robinson scored two while Bass completed a twenty minute hat-trick for the Knights to romp to a 56-0 win and send their opponents back to Cumbria with their tail between their legs.
It was a terrific battle at the Mbi Shay as Halifax and Batley went down to the wire. Saltonstall, Tyrer and Robinson gave the home side a seemingly unassailable 18-0 half time lead but second half tries from Brearley, Downs got the visitors within six. Tyrer kicked a penalty on seventy-two to edge his side eight points clear and Halifax held on despite a late Yates try, converted by Scott. ‘Fax the winners by 20-18.
Leigh are up to fifth after a nine point victory over fellow promotion hopefully Featherstone Rovers. McNaklly and Douglas established a 10-0 home lead but tries from Smith, Briscoe and Newman saw Rovers 14-10 ahead at the interval. Three tries in seventeen minutes form Spencer, Ridyard and Smith, all converted by Ridyard made it 28-14 and the Centurions kicker added a drop goal for good measure with eight minutes left on the clock. The late Boas try was scant consolation as the visitors lost by 20-29.
The final game of the afternoon saw Dewsbury pick up their first points of the campaign with a 38-24 win over the Swinton Lions. Garratt and Ward had put Dewsbury 12-0 ahead before Swintons first score through Fairclough. Garratt added another for the home side before Shelford got the Loins second which saw them trail 10-18 at the interval. A try from Lloyd further reduced the home lead before Rams tries from Ward, Worrincy and Harrison sealed the win. Late Swinton tries from Halton and Butt did little to give the visiting side any cheer for the journey back home.
