Five games over three days comprised the sixth round of the Betfred Championship with one casualty being the encounter between the Sheffield Eagles and the Halifax Panthers which was postponed due to COVID issues at the South Yorkshire club. Bradford’s game with Newcastle Thunder was also postponed and will now take place in early June.
Batley and London met on Saturday while Widnes played York and Whitehaven went against Toulouse on Sunday. The final two encounters were delayed until Monday evening when crowds were allowed back into Stadia with Dewsbury travelling to Swinton and Featherstone hosting Oldham.
The Broncos recorded a big 40-6 win over Batley and were 18-0 ahead thanks to tries from Walters, Hankinson and Miski before Hall got the home sides only try of the game just before the interval. Curran, Jones, Hankinson and Boafo all scored in the second half to crown a comprehensive victory.
Toulouse Olympique XIII look unstoppable in 2021 and they put Whitehaven to the sword on Sunday afternoon with a 66-0 win. Jassaume, White, Dixon, Marion and Pelissier had given the visitors a 26-0 half time lead but they’d barely started. Eight second half tries from; Vaivai (2), Peyroux, Hitchcox, Marion, Flovie (2) and Jassaume received no response from the home side. Toulouse well clear on points difference at the top of the table.
York took an early lead on seven minutes through Scott but tries from Lawton and Cross along with three Tyrer goals put Widnes 14-8 ahead at the interval. But the second half belonged to York with Jones-Bishop, Washbrook and Lewis (2) all scoring in a 35-14 win, Dean kicking a seventy-eighth minute drop goal.
In the 19:45 Monday evening kick-off Swinton gave Dewsbury a scare as they looked for their first points of the season. Gabriel, Knowles and Tomlinson put Dewsbury 16-0 ahead at the interval but a try from Cox gave Swinton some hope after the restart. Two Dewsbury goals on sixty-six and seventy-three put the Rams 20-6 ahead but two late converted tries from Brickhill got the home side to within two of the visitors at the final hooter.
Oldham has a bad day at the office as they travelled to take on Featherstone Rovers. Fev’ scored through Chisolm in the opening minute and never looked back. Hall (2), Bussey (2), Day and Minns all scored first half tries for 40-0 at the break. The scoring slowed a little in the second half but Hardcastle, Holmes, Brown, Jones and Gale all got in on the act for a final score of 68-0, Chisolm kicking ten goals.