The first game on Sunday of the Summer Bash from Blackpool was the game with the most potential for a humdinger as second played third when Toulouse Olympique XIII took on the London Broncos.

The sides are tied on competition points and separated by just a points difference of forty-four but it was the French side who won the encounter at the end of March by 36-16 when the sides met in London.

It was a game between two good teams, both intent on securing the victory.

The first try of the game was sensational. Tony Maurel was on hand to complete but all the hard work was done by Mark Kheirallah who made an eighty metre break before finding Worthington in support who then passed to Maurel under the tackle to go in under the sticks. Kheirallah kicked the extras for a 6-0 lead for the French side after ten minutes.

London went close on fifteen but great Toulouse defence denied them.

On twenty-one Toulouse got their second, again with Kheirallah the creator when he found a gap, stepped inside and found James Worthington on the wing for a clear run to the line and then round behind the sticks before touching down. Kheirallah added the goal for 12-0.

London finally got on the board on twenty-seven when Jarrod Sammut collected his own grubber kick to push off two attemoted tackles and ground over the Toulouse line. He added the extras to reduce the arrears to six points in a game that they’d not really been in.

A bullet miss-out pass from Jonathan Ford to Maurel on thirty-five put the winger over in an acre of space for his second try of the afternoon and he once again improved the angle for Kheirallah to make it 18-6.

Just before the interval the Broncos struck back again when a Sammut grubber was knocked back into the hands of Jay Pitts to go over the line and round behind the sticks to give Sammut a simple conversion to send the sides into the sheds at 18-12. London were still in a game which Toulouse had dominated, the second half was set up to be a thriller.

Six minutes after the restart and Kheirallah went from hero to zero as he lost the ball in a one on one tackle and Ben Evans went over from five metres . Sammut added the conversion to level the scores.

Touluse re-took the lead on fifty-three when Rhys Curran powered over after Kieron Dixon had been dumped into touch by some great tackling. Kheirallah hit the near upright with the conversion attempt as the wind blustered.

An awful high shot from Kieron Dixon on fifty-eight on Bastien Ader saw the Broncos winger yellow carded.

Three plays after the penalty Charlie Bouzinac scooted from acting half-back through a disorganised Broncos defence to ground for a far too simple try. Kheirallah added the conversion for 28-18 and Toulouse were pulling away.

But London weren’t finished. On sixty-five the Toulouse defence made a mess of a Sammut high kick allowing Rhys Williams to collect the loose ball and score in the corner. Sammut goaled brilliantly from the touchline to reduce the arrears to four points.

Kheirallah sealed the win on seventy-three when he was the beneficiary of a Rhys Curran break through the London line and offload to give the full back a twenty metre run to the line. He converted his own for a ten point lead at 34-24.

Rhys Williams grabbed a consolation in seventy-seven, stepping through a couple of tackles to ground the ball on the line. Sammut was unable to add the conversion and London were six behind.

Kheirallah grabbed his second try of a twenty point haul in the dying seconds for a final score of 40-28 win.

This was an exciting game played out by two good footballing teams and in tremendous spirit. The Dixon sin-binning was reckless rather than malicious and the points scored while he was off the field were eventually the difference between the sides. There were some spectacular Toulouse tries while most of London’s were ground out and scored from short range.

Toulouse pull clear of the chasing pack and edge back closer to the leaders but London are right back in the mix and will have a real battle to get a top four finish.

Olympique: Kheirallah (2T, 6G), Worthington (T), Marguerite, Ader, Maurel (2T), Ford, Barthau, Boyer, Kriouache, Canet, Mika, Curran (T), Bentley.  Subs: Bouzinac (T), Bretherton, Hepi, Marion.

Broncos: Walker, Dixon (SB on 58), Fleming, Kear, Williams (2T), Channing, Sammut (T, 4G), Spencer, Davis, Ioane, Harrison, Pitts (T), Battye .  Subs: Gee, Cunningham, Evans (T), Adebiyi.

Referee: Gary Dolan.

Half-Time: 18-12.

Full-Time: 40-28.

Attendance: .