Round 16 of the Championship saw table topping Leigh Centurions visit Whitehaven for a Saturday kick-off while the rest of the games kicked off in their usual Sunday afternoon spot.

Second placed London Broncos entertained Workington, third placed Batley Bulldogs were at home to the Oldham Roughyeds and fourth placed Bradford Bulls were at home to Dewsbury Rams. In the chasing pack, Featherstone were at home to Swinton Lions and Halifax at home to Sheffield Eagles, both hoping that the sides above them would slip up.

The Centurions made hard work of the first half in Cumbria where the sides were all tied up at half time. Drinkwater and Higson had both scored early converted tries but Brocklebank and Jouffret, with a try just before the hooter, levelled at 12-12. The second half was one-way traffic in Leigh's favour with Burns (2), Patterson and Worthington all going over for a comfortable final score of 36-12 opening up a five point lead at the top.

The game, and result, of the day came at Odsal where Dewsbury ripped up the form book to beat Bradford in a thriller and evict them from the all important top four places. Grady had given the Rams the lead but Pitts soon equalised but a converted Guzdek try on thirty-six and a Sykes penalty on half-time gave the visitors a 14-6 lead at the interval. Addy kicked a penalty on fifty-three to reduce the arrears to six and when O'Brien went over the line the Rams lead was down to two. With the clock ticking down Addy took advantage of a penalty to seemingly steal the draw but as the hooter sounded the Bulls were penalised for an obstruction and Sykes kicked a forty metre penalty to take a famous 16-14 win and rock the Bulls, and their fans.

Batley Bulldogs had a big win over Oldham and never looked in any trouble. Despite The Roughyeds opening the scoring through Hughes on eight minutes, Blake, Brown (2), and Reittie all scored converted first half tries for a 24-6 lead at the interval. Brambani extended that lead in the second half before Wood pulled one back for Oldham and despite a late Middlehurst consolation for the visitors, the win was sealed with tries from Minikin and a second from Brambani for a 42-18 final score.

London Broncos retained second, also with an easy victory over Workington Town, although not without an early scare. Leatherbarrow had opened the London scoring but when Carter and Murphy went in it was the visitors who temporarily had the lead. An onslaught followed with Broncos tries for Pewhairangi, Foster, Kear, Ackers and Offerdahl giving the London side a 34-12 half-time lead. Gee got one back for Workington early in the second but Kear, Cunningham and Williams made it 50-16 before two late converted tries from Sammut and Gordon gave the visitors a degree of respectability in losing 50-28.

Featherstone Rovers have jumped into a 'Middle Eights' spot with a comprehensive win over Swinton. Baldwinson scored the first two Fev' tries for a 12-0 lead but Atkin and Marshall levelled the scores at 12-12 after 24 minutes. When Craven went over three minutes later it edged the home side back in front and they held on until the interval. The second half was all one-way traffic as Rovers dominated. Davies, Cording, Briggs, Craven, Johnson, Tagg and Hardman gave Swinton a miserable afternoon in crushing them 58-12.

Halifax also leapfrogged the Bradford Bulls when they beat Sheffield Eagles by a massive 60-22 scoreline. Tangata, Moore (2), and Sarsfield all scored first half 'Fax tries with the only response from Sheffield being a Blackmore four-pointer. In the second half Sarsfield completed his hat-trick, as did Moore, and Sharp, Greenwood and Fairbank also crossed. Tries for Millar, James and a second for Blackmore were of scant consolation.

There is now a two point gap separating Featherstone and Halifax from the Bulls in the race for the top four, but the Bulls do have a game in hand and if they win that then third to fifth will be separated only by points difference, of which Bradford looks the healthiest. It's hotting up into a real fight for the top four with Leigh and London almost there, bar a massive slip-up.