Round 18 of the Betfred Championship saw a couple close contests, with Barrow Raiders coming from behind to draw with Bradford Bulls, meanwhile Sheffield Eagles narrowly edged the South Yorkshire derby.
The Raiders trailed early in the second half 24-8. However, tries from Andrew Bulman, Josh Wood and Max Clarke gave Ryan Shaw an opportunity to level the score with two minutes to go. Shaw converted to make it 16 points unanswered and the sides would split the Championship points.
Sheffield survived a late onslaught from Doncaster at Olympic Legacy Park. Matty Dawson-Jones, James Glover, Alex Foster and Cory Aston put the Eagles in a commanding half time lead. Three second half Dons tries reduced the gap to just two points, but they were unable to snatch the victory away from their South Yorkshire counterparts.
Elsewhere, Toulouse Olympique continued their impressive run with a 48-4 away with at Swinton. Pierre-Jean Lima scored a hat-trick as Olympique ran in nine tries on the road.
Wakefield Trinity kept up their relentless pace at the top. Daryl Powell’s side dominated much of the contest at the Flair Stadium against bottom placed Dewsbury Rams. Max Jowitt completed a hat-trick in their 42-16 away win.
18 unanswered second half points, saw James Ford’s Featherstone Rovers get a much needed win at home to Batley Bulldogs. After conceding to Lucas Walshaw inside the opening two minutes, Featherstone responded well with Connor Wynne hitting back. However, they found themselves trailing 16-6 at the break. Tries from Jack Bussey, Ben Reynolds and Jimmy Beckett saw the Rovers come from behind to get the two points, and move back to sixth in the table.
Just like Featherstone, Widnes Vikings were another side who came from behind. The Vikings trailed 12-0 away at Whitehaven through tries from Edene Gebbie and Ryan King. Two late tries at the end of the half from Ryan Ince and Joe Lyons saw the score level at the interval. Experienced Widnesians Jack Owens and Tom Gilmore added scores themselves which saw the Vikings depart Cumbria with the victory.
And Halifax Panthers kept in touching distance of the Play-Offs while also moving away from the relegation zone with a home victory over York. James Woodburn-Hall’s solo effort was the pick of the tries in their 38-18 home success over Mark Applegarth's Knights, as they recorded back-to-back wins.
Betfred Championship Round 18 results:
Halifax Panthers 38 York Knights 18
Dewsbury Rams 16 Wakefield Trinity 42
Barrow Raiders 24 Bradford Bulls 24
Whitehaven RLFC 12 Widnes Vikings 24
Sheffield Eagles 22 Doncaster RLFC 20
Featherstone Rovers 24 Batley Bulldogs 16
Swinton Lions 4 Toulouse Olympique 48
The full fixture list for the Betfred Championship and all of the relevant information and kick-off times can be found here.
Photo Credit: Halifax Panthers
