A full round three of seven games in the Betfred Championship took part over the weekend with two games on Saturday, and the remaining five taking place over staggered starts on Sunday with all games being streamed live.
London entertained Oldham on Saturday with Widnes travelled to the Batley Bulldogs. Sundays first game was a one-sided affair between Swinton and York while Featherstone met Whitehaven and Toulouse travelled to Halifax in the three o’clock games. Newcastle Thunder took on Sheffield at five-fifteen while the curtain was brought down on the weekend as Bradford hosted the Dewsbury Rams.
Egodo and Sammutt had put London Broncos into a 12-0 lead inside the opening twenty and they never looked back. Nelmes scored for Oldham on twenty-one but it was their only try of the half as Hindmarsh added a third for the home side. Egodo and Sammut both got their second within the first eight minutes of the restart before Bibby and Langtree scored two more for Oldham. Egodo’s hat-trick made it 34-18 and Hewitt and Walters exchanged tries in the closing minutes for 38-24 to secure the Broncos first points of the season.
The Batley Bulldogs had a surprisingly easy 48-16 win over an out of sorts Widnes Vikings despite going 12-0 down early on to trues from Doro and Baker, both converted by Tyrer. Campbell and Tonks returned fire for Batley but a third try for Widnes from Buckley saw them head into the break with a comfortable 16-10 lead. But the Bulldogs supporters needn’t have worried as their side put on a tremendous second half show to score thirty-eight unanswered points. Ward, White, Morton, Hooley and Campbell all scored within the first twenty minutes of the second half for a 38-16 lead. Broughton added another on sixty-two and Manning scored in the dying seconds to complete the rout.
York got their first win of the season with a points festival against a winless Swinton Lions after they sprinted to a 22-0 lead inside the first twenty minutes. Both Dixon’s, Kieran scoring twice and Ronan grabbing one, along with a try from Marsh put Swinton on the back foot. Wynne and Marsh, his second of four on the afternoon, put the visitors 32-0 up at the break, Swinton with nothing in return. Roberts finally registered points for Swinton just after the restart but Dean (2), Marsh completing his hat-trick and Atkins killed off any thoughts of a fightback. Tries inside the last ten minutes from Butt and Brogan were mere consolation as the Lions hit double figures but Marsh got his fourth on the final hooter for a 64-16 win.
Featherstone Rovers and Whitehaven shared sixty-two points in their game, but not very evenly. Ferres and Jones put Rovers 10-0 ahead before Dixon got Whitehaven’s first. Conceding spurred Rovers on and Bussey scored their third before the interval for 16-6 at oranges. When Worthington scored two after the restart there was hope for ‘Haven and when Kopczak and Purewal exchanged tries just after the fifty it looked like it was game-on. But that’s when the wheels came off for the visitors as they conceded a procession of tries. Brown, Moors, Hardcastle, Gale and Hall all crossed the whitewash and Brown added four more goals to give him seven in the game and a 48-14 win.
Toulouse Olympique XIII maintained their perfect 2021 record in another high points game with Halifax Panthers. Vaivai (2), Bretherton, White (2), and Dixon all scored for Toulouse in a one-sided first half which saw the French side romp into a 34-0 lead by the half-hour mark. A quickfire double just before the interval from Saltonstall gave ‘Fax some hope but they trailed 34-12 at the break. McComb and Woodburn-Hall further narrowed the gap at the start of the second half to 34-22 but a converted Casty try saw Toulouse hit the forty. Barber edged the Panthers to twenty-eight points but two Marion penalty goals put the visitors on forty-four and a late Saltonstall try, to complete a losing hat-trick, could only narrow the losing margin to ten points.
The Sheffield Eagles lost their unbeaten start to the season as they went down by 24-16 against an impressive Newcastle Thunder side. Johnson had put Thunder ahead as early as the eleventh minute but tries from Glover and Farrell gave the Eagles a 12-6 interval lead. Oakley scored for Newcastle five minutes after the restart to level the scores and a Chapelhow try just before the hour mark regained the lead for the home side by 18-12. A Render try from Sheffield on seventy-six set up what appeared to be a thrilling finale but after the conversion was missed, Newcastle went down the other end and took the points for the home side with a Ta’i try, Woods adding the conversion for 24-16.
The rounds final game was between the Bradford Bulls and Dewsbury Rams. The Bulls struck early through England and when Oakes scored their second on twenty they were already 14-0 up. Gabriel pulled one back for the Rams on the half hour but Brown and Brough added two more Bradford tries before the break for a commanding 28-6 lead. Within three minutes of the restart Gabriel got his, and Dewsbury’s second, but with the conversion missed it was too far back. Brough kicked a drop goal with thirteen remaining and four minutes from time Ryder scored the Rams third of the evening. Right on the final hooter Brown got his second of the game and when Brough added the extras the final score was 35-14.
