Once again, Toulouse Olympique found themselves without a fixture as Oldham were not compelled to travel to the South of France as an amateur side. The remaining fixtures took place over Saturday and Sunday with Featherstone Rovers hosting London in the only fixture on Saturday.
The remainder of games took place on Sunday afternoon, the Halifax Panthers game against the Widnes Vikings was delayed by thirty minutes due to a downpour just before the scheduled kick off time. Bradford had a local derby against Batley while Sheffield made the short trip to Dewsbury to take on the Rams. Elsewhere Whitehaven were the hosts to lowly Swinton and York entertained Newcastle Thunder.
It was a one-sided demolition in the only game on Saturday as the Featherstone Rovers walloped the London Broncos by 63-14. Hall and Dagger put the home side 12-0 ahead before London got on the board through Hankinson. Chisolm, Moors and Hall with his second, made it 30-4 before a Sammut try got London into double figures. Hall completed a twenty-three-minute hat-trick before Parata ended the scoring in the first half with Rovers having a commanding 41-4 lead. Gale, Field and Brown scored within eleven minutes of the restart to end any thoughts of a London fightback and a further Brown try seven from the ended the Fev’ onslaught. A late Miski try will not have improved the mood on the bus home for the Broncos as they crashed to a heavy defeat.
The ever-improving Swinton Lions gave Whitehaven a scare but still failed to get their first win of the season. Swinton took an early lead through Meadows but tries from Williams, Holliday and Walmsley gave the home side an 18-6 half time lead. A fantastic ten-minute spell for Swinton with tries from Nash, Cox and Doyle spun the game on its head and gave the Lions a 22-18 lead. Whitehaven held their nerve and Walmsley scored on sixty-four to be followed over by Dixon three minutes later. Holliday got his second of the game to round off a 36-22 ‘Haven win.
It was a classic grind at Dewsbury with plenty of bad blood on show as the Rams and Eagles fought out an 18-18 draw. Speakman and Knowles put the Rams 12-0 ahead before Corion pulled one back for Sheffield. The first half only had one more try and it was a second for Knowles to put the home side 18-4 up at the interval. Two converted tries a minute either side of the hour mark from Thackeray and Brown got the Eagles within two points of their hosts before a controversial late penalty allowed Farrell to kick and level the scores.
Bradford rampaged into a terrific 24-0 lead with Doyle, Brown, Burton and England all scoring inside a ten-minute purple patch after a twenty-minute stalemate. White got the Bulldogs on the board early in the second half before Evans extended the Bulls lead to 30-6. Tries from Hall, on sixty-six and Walshaw, on seventy-five, made the score line respectable for Batley, the Bulls winning by 30-16.
It was a humdinger of a battle between the York City Knights and Newcastle Thunder with the visitors emerging as victors. Shorrocks and Harrison replied to an early Dixon penalty to put Thunder 12-2 ahead at the interval. Simons and Clegg extended the lead to 22-2 before the City Knights sprang into life. Atkins, Clarkson and Scott reduced the margin to just two points before Clegg scored for Newcastle ten from the end for 28-20. Whitley got a fourth York try on seventy-seven which Dixon converted but the home side couldn’t find their way over again, losing by 26-28.
The rain delayed the start at Halifax against Widnes but once the game got underway, they dealt up a treat. Owens and Hatton gave the Vikings a lead within the opening quarter of an hour and despite a Morris converted try for Halifax on the half hour, two Tyrer penalties just before the interval sent Widnes into the sheds with a 16-6 lead. Saltonstall was the second half hero with two tries, the second being converted by Harris to level the scores at 16-16, ‘Fax in the ascendancy. With twenty seconds left on the clock Harris kicked a drop-goal for the Panthers to take the win, and the points, in a nail-biter.
