Only four rounds remain in the Betfred Championship as sides are looking to make one last push to rise up the table. Here is a look at all the fixtures taking place in Round 24.
All seven Betfred Championship fixtures will take place on Sunday.
The first fixture sees Workington Town host the Dewsbury Rams. The match at Derwent Park will get underway at 2PM.
Workington’s Championship fate was sealed last weekend as they suffered an away defeat at London, which confirm they will be relegated to Betfred League One.
Town have won only one of their 23 fixtures this season, however they will be hoping to add a second on Sunday. The two sides met in Round Nine with Dewsbury coming out on top in a close fought 19-18 contest.
Meanwhile for Dewsbury, Sunday’s match is a must win in their bid for Championship survival. The Rams occupy 13th place which is one of the positions for relegation. Dewsbury are six points behind 12th place Whitehaven.
From their 23 matches played this season, Dewsbury have won 2 and drawn once which sees them with five Betfred Championship points. Their first win came in Round Three in tough conditions, they were able to grind out the 12-10 success over Sheffield Eagles. Since then, they have only defeat one other side, who was Workington in Round Nine.
Andy Gabriel is just one appearance away from 150 in his career. Meanwhile fellow Ram, Ben Blackmore needs one try for 100 in his career.
In-form Barrow Raiders welcome the Featherstone Rovers up to Cumbria on Sunday afternoon.
The Raiders have won six of their previous matches, with their only defeat coming away from home at the leaders of the Betfred Championship, Leigh Centurions.
Barrow produced a dominant display from start to finish at Batley last weekend to secure their spot in the play-offs.
Paul Crarey’s side will be looking to secure another win as they look to move up the table.
Featherstone Rovers will be hoping to continue their momentum as the season draws to a close.
Featherstone have lost just three of their 23 matches, including twice to Leigh. Since their most recent defeat to the Centurions, Brian McDermott’s side have bounced back with a 20-16 away win at Widnes and then a 72-6 hammering of the Dewsbury Rams.
The Rovers have won their previous eight away fixtures at Barrow, with their last defeat coming back in 2009.
Bradford Bulls will be searching for a third successive victory when the welcome Whitehaven to Odsal on Sunday afternoon.
Mark Dunning’s side had lost five matches in a row, until they faced Workington Town two weeks ago. The Bulls have since followed that up with a 20-16 success against York City Knights in front of the Premier Sports cameras on Monday night. Bradford took an early lead and never fell behind. In wet conditions, they were able to keep the Knights scoreless in the second half as they took the two league points back to West Yorkshire.
Whitehaven know that a win on Sunday could effectively secure their Championship safety. They currently sit six points ahead of the drop zone with just four games remaining.
Since their 26-10 victory over local rivals Workington Town at the Summer Bash, Whitehaven have been unable to register another.
In previous seasons, Whitehaven have struggled against Bradford. In the last ten meetings, the Cumbrian side have won only one of ten matches. This was a 36-22 win at Odsal last season in Round 22.
Halifax Panthers will be looking for their fourth consecutive victory when they welcome Newcastle Thunder to The Shay.
Simon Grix’s side has turned The Shay into a fortress this season. The Panthers have won their seven Betfred Championship matches, with their last defeat coming in March to Leigh Centurions in Round Six.
In their last fixture, they came from behind to defeat Sheffield. Centre, Joe Arundel, crossed for a hat-trick during the 32-26 win at Olympic Legacy Park.
Halifax will be looking to cement their spot in third position. They sit two points ahead of Batley in fourth but are five points behind second place Featherstone.
Newcastle Thunder have struggled in recent weeks and will be looking to rectify the issues on Sunday.
Newcastle have failed to score a point in their last two matches. Their 44-0 home defeat to London was followed up with a 60-0 defeat at Kingston Park to Leigh last Sunday.
Denis Betts’ side last were successful during Round 18 when they hammered Bradford 53-10. However, Thunder have failed to win on the road since Round 11 when they defeated the London Broncos at the Cherry Red Records Stadium.
Newcastle come into the match in 11th and could overtake London should they defeat Halifax and results go their way.
Leigh Centurions will be looking to take another step closer to securing the Betfred Championship League Leaders Shield.
Adrian Lam’s side have had a near perfect season. With just one defeat in 23 league matches, Leigh have shown a clinical attack and strong defence all year. The Centurions are currently the only side in any of the three professional leagues, to have scored over 1000 points in their respective leagues. With just 188 points conceded in 23 matches, the Centurions only conceded just over 8 points a match on average.
The Centurions have scored 46 or more points in each of their last eight Betfred Championship matches.
Leigh will be searching for their 22nd consecutive victory on Sunday afternoon, which did include their 40-4 away win at the LNER Community Stadium which was only the second game in this sequence.
York will be desperate to get a win on Sunday as it would clinch the final spot in the 2022 play-offs.
The Knights had pushed Featherstone Rovers close in Round 20, then followed that with victories over Newcastle and Dewsbury. On Monday they were unable to clinch the final play-off spot as they suffered a 20-16 home defeat to Bradford.
James Ford’s side sit sixth in the table and are eight points ahead of Widnes Vikings and Bradford Bulls. One point from their next four matches will confirm their place in the play-offs.
London Broncos will host the Batley Bulldogs at the Cherry Red Records Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Broncos secured their Betfred Championship status last weekend. Their home win against Workington Town means that Mike Eccles’ side are unable to be caught by either of the bottom two sides.
London have won seven of their opening 23 matches and they will be hoping to end the season strong to build towards the 2023 campaign.
The Broncos have won each of their last 10 home meetings with Batley.
Batley will be looking for their first away victory against a London Broncos side since 1988.
Craig Lingard’s side have performed well this season and currently occupy fourth spot in the Championship. Batley were sitting third, however back-to-back defeats against Halifax and Barrow has seen the West Yorkshire side slip down to fourth in the standings.
In the previous meeting this season, the Bulldogs trailed 12-0 at the break, however 28 unanswered points was enough to secure the two points for Lingard’s side.
The final game of the weekend sees Widnes Vikings hosting the Sheffield Eagles.
Widnes will be hoping to keep their play-off hopes alive, however if they are to drop any points, they will be unable to catch York in 6th place.
Since taking charge, John Kear has seen an improvement in results for Widnes. The Vikings have won six of their last eight fixtures and their two defeats were by sides who occupy play-off spots.
Widnes have won their last 14 home matches against the Sheffield Eagles.
Sheffield will be hoping to finally end their poor run at Widnes. The Eagles' last away victory against Widnes was a 23-14 Stones Bitter Championship win on 3 March 1991.
Mark Aston’s side have won two of their last found matches. Their Summer Bash win was followed by a midweek defeat to Batley. Then four days later, they defeated Whitehaven 38-26, but last weekend they gave a good account of themselves, however, were defeated 32-26 by third place Halifax Panthers
The Eagles were victorious when the two sides met in Round 12. Jason Bass scored twice during the 34-24 win at Sheffield’s Olympic Legacy Park.
Quentin Laulu-Togaga’e is just one appearance away from making 300 in his career. Meanwhile half-back Anthony Thackeray needs 11 more points to reach 1000 in his career.
Betfred Championship Round 24 Fixtures:
Sunday
- Workington Town v Dewsbury Rams – 2 PM
- Barrow Raiders v Featherstone Rovers - 3 PM
- Bradford Bulls v Whitehaven – 3 PM
- Halifax Panthers v Newcastle Thunder- 3 PM
- Leigh Centurions v York City Knights – 3 PM
- London Broncos v Batley Bulldogs – 3 PM
- Widnes Vikings v Sheffield Eagles – 3 PM
