Bradford Bulls and Halifax Panthers book their places in the Betfred Championship Semi-Finals

Here's what happened in Friday Night's Eliminators!

Bradford Bulls and Halifax Panthers earned their spots in the Betfred Championship Semi-Finals next weekend, where they will travel to face Toulouse Olympique and York Knights.

Brian Noble’s Bulls ensured that they would be competing in the semis for a third year running, following a dominant 28-8 victory over local rivals Featherstone Rovers in the Eliminators.

Friday Night Fever was in full swing at Bartercard Odsal, with Bradford having already beaten the same opponents in league action the week before.

And they were even more fired up this time round, especially with a semi-final on the line.

It was the visitors who opened the scoring via a penalty goal from Danny Addy, but Bradford responded in perfect fashion as Jayden Okunbor raced down the wing to touch down.

Okunbor then bagged his brace just minutes later and the hosts never really looked back.

In the second half, the one-way traffic continued as Jorge Taufua completed a double and Ebon Scurr crashed over from close range, with halfback Tom Holmes incredibly influential in his side’s Play-Off victory.

Only Caleb Aekins could come up with a consolation score for Paul Cooke's Rovers.

Bradford will make the trip to the south of France to play Toulouse next Sunday, in what promises to be a mouthwatering clash.

As mentioned above, this will be the third successive semi-final the West Yorkshire club has reached.

Is this the year the Bulls go one better?

Meanwhile, Kyle Eastmond’s Panthers pulled off a stunning victory in front of The Sportsman cameras on Friday Night.

‘Fax travelled to Boundary Park as the underdogs and came up against Sean Long's strongly named Oldham, and a side who have been a real force to be reckoned with in 2025.

But the hosts never managed to get a look in, as the visitors ran in seven tries to avenge two regular season defeats to the Roughyeds, and most importantly, book themselves a semi-final berth.

Halifax raced into a shock 22-0 lead by half-time, with Charlie Graham, Brandon Douglas, Ben Crooks and David Nofoaluma all getting on the scoresheet.

Their phenomenal form then continued into the second stanza with a James Wood-Burn Hall effort and second Graham try, which blew their opposition away and put the game well and truly out of Oldham's grasp.

In the closing stages, and to top off a stellar showing, Jacob Fairbank sidestepped his way over the try line on the 76th minute as Halifax recorded a memorable Eliminator win.

The Panthers progress through to the final four, and face their biggest test to date when they meet with league leaders York Knights next Saturday in an enticing match-up.

Betfred Championship Play-Off Eliminators:

Bradford Bulls 28 Featherstone 8

Oldham 4 Halifax Panthers 40

Betfred Championship Semi-Finals - details TBC

York Knights v Halifax Panthers

Bradford Bulls v Toulouse Olympique

The Betfred Championship Grand Final will be played across the weekend of 3-5 October.

Photo Credit: Halifax Panthers