There were a series of close contests in Round 23 of the Betfred Championship, with the race for the Play-Offs and league positions both on the line!
Swinton Lions edged a close contest against Salford at The Brick Community Stadium on Saturday, which formed part of a double-header with the Betfred Super League’s Wigan Warriors v Toulouse Olympique fixture.
Swinton’s scorers were Ellis Anderson, Aaron Lynch and Harry Higham, whilst Ollie Garmston crossed twice for the Reds and Lewis Pilling also touched down.
On Sunday, Josh Drinkwater nailed a drop-goal at the death to see Oldham bounce back with a win, overcoming a persistent Sheffield side in the process.
The Roughyeds were unable to shake off the Eagles who had fought back from 16-0 down to lead at the break. Oldham got themselves back in front numerous times in the second forty, but each time Sheffield found a response.
There were three penalties scored in the final ten minutes, two for Sheffield and one for Oldham, with both sides still deadlocked at 30-30 as the clock ticked down.
But Drinkwater became the man of the hour as he slotted over the one-pointer to claim the spoils, as Oldham moved into third place in the table.
Sheffield are seventh after Round 23.
Second-placed Newcastle Thunder were made to work hard at Batley, beating their opponents by just four points.
It was a valiant effort from the Bulldogs who were leading 24-22 until the closing minutes, before Brad Ward dotted down in the corner to snatch a win.
Batley continue to occupy the tenth and final Play-Off spot, despite their loss at the weekend.
Meanwhile, fourth-placed Barrow endured a tough test at The Shay when they faced Halifax.
Charlie Emslie scored twice as the Raiders defeated the Panthers, but they wre forced to dig deep to get the win in Round 23, earning their first victory at The Shay in 15 years in the process.
This is a huge result for Barrow and their pursuit of a top six finish in this year’s campaign.
An unbeaten London Broncos edged ever closer to the League Leaders’ Shield with another resounding victory against Goole Vikings.
Alex Walker went over for four tries, whilst Alex Max, Ted Davidson, Lewis Bienek, Gairo Voro and Robert Mathias all bagged braces.
Ben Hursey-Hord, Sam Davis and Marly Bitungane made up the rest of the Broncos scorers.
Also on Sunday, Doncaster scored 20 tries at the Club Doncaster Sports Village to take a club-record victory against North Wales Crusaders in the Championship.
Harvey Horne, Gadwin Springer, Connor Robinson, Mitieli Vulikijapani, Brad Knowles, Isaac Misky and Pauli Paul all scored first half tries, as Tom Whitehead also found a brace inside the opening 40 minutes.
Connor Jones scored a second half hat-trick, with Whitehead and Horne also finding a third try of the day each, as Vulikijapani, Reece Lyne, Loui McConnell, Brad Hey and Sam Smeaton found further efforts to complete the scoring.
Elsewhere, Hunslet completed the double over Keighley Cougars yesterday at the South Leeds Stadium, courtesy of an Aidan Doolan masterclass.
Jack Kellett crosesed for the most important score of the contest as Whitehaven secured their first victory away at Rochdale in 14 years, as they remain in the Play-Off mix, sitting in ninth.
And it was a pulsating success for Midlands in another points fest of the round. They played Workington on home soil and came away with the goods to strength their position in eighth.
What will the Top Ten look like in a few weeks' time?
Betfred Championship Round 23 results:
Salford RLFC 18 Swinton Lions 20
Oldham RLFC 31 Sheffield Eagles 30
Batley Bulldogs 24 Newcastle Thunder 28
Halifax Panthers 20 Barrow Raiders 28
Hunslet RLFC 32 Keighley Cougars 18
London Broncos 92 Goole Vikings 6
Doncaster RLFC 120 North Wales Crusaders 0
Rochdale Hornets 22 Whitehaven RLFC 24
Midlands Hurricanes 30 Workington Town 24
