With the game between the Widnes Vikings and the Sheffield Eagles being postponed due to the formers financial difficulties the field was open for the Toronto Wolfpack to go two points clear at the top of the Betfred Championship if they could negotiate a tricky trip to Leigh to take on the Centurions.
Elsewhere last seasons promoted sides Bradford and York had their first meeting of the season at Odsal while Toulouse had a trip to Swinton to take on the Lions. Barrow and Dewsbury met in Cumbria while Rochdale were in Batley to take on the Bulldogs and there was a local West Yorkshire derby as Featherstone hosted Halifax.
The game of the day was at Leigh Sports Village where Toronto managed to hold onto a fist half lead and win by 14-8. Report Here.
Toulouse Olympique XIII made hard work of taking the two points from a Swinton Lions side who ran them all the way to the final hooter. Marguerite and Parata had given the visitors a 10-0 lead before Butt and Fairclough put the home side 12-10 up. Mika and Kheirallah both got tries before the interval, giving Toulouse an 18-12 lead at the break. Parata added a second try early after the restart for 24-12 before Fairclough got the home side within six. A Kheirallah penalty goal stretched the advantage to eight points and a late try by Forsyth, although it was converted by Smith, left Swinton two points short at the final whistle.
Barrow and Dewsbury played an exciting 20-20 draw at Craven Park. Stack and Trout exchanged tries in the first quarter of an hour before Stack picked up his second to give Barrow a 12-8 half time lead. A Barrow penalty extended the lead to 14-8 but converted tries from Trout and Sykes edged the visitors to a 20-14 lead with twenty minutes remaining. Johnson scored for Barrow inside the last seven minutes and Charnock added the goal to tie the sides up and ensure that the league ladder points were shared.
York Knights took the honour of the newly promoted sides after racing into a 12-0 lead thanks to tries from Robson and Mazive, both converted by Robinson. Ryan scored just before the interval for the Bulls who trailed 12-4 at the break. A second try for Ryan and one for Pickersgill gave Bradford a 14-12 lead but the visitors redoubled their efforts and thanks to tries from Teanby and Marsh they sealed a famous win to lift them into third spot in the table.
Batley took an early lead against Rochdale through Galbraith and when he went in for his second on twenty-seven the home side were 12-6 ahead. A Scott penalty on the hour extended the lead and when Reittie scored ten from time the Bulldogs were clear with the points in the bag. Rochdale scored a late consolation through Mitchell but went down by 18-12.
Featherstone and Halifax shared sixty-two points at the LD Nutrition Stadium, Rovers getting the lion share of them to seal the win. King and Newman put Rovers 12-0 ahead before Sharp grabbed one back before a second from Newman made it 18-4. Briscoe opened the second half scoring, followed over the whitewash by Render for a 28-4 lead. Robinson got Halifax’s second before Briscoe completed his brace and Cooper added Featherstone’s seventh try of the afternoon. A late try from White narrowed the margin but it was a confident 46-16 home victory.
