Round sixteen of the 2021 Betfred Championship again consisted of six fixtures as the clash between the Bradford Bulls and Sheffield Eagles fell victim to COVID issues at the South Yorkshire club.
Plenty of mouth-watering fixtures did go ahead with Halifax facing Newcastle, Swinton looking to get back-to-back wins as they faced Oldham, and Whitehaven hosting the Dewsbury Rams. Widnes were at York while Featherstone travelled to Batley to face the Bulldogs, and the league leaders Toulouse were at London.
Swinton got their first win last weekend and came close to getting their second this round as they drew 22-22 with Oldham. Oldham were 12-0 up at the interval thanks to a brace from Dupree which were converted by Abram. Hatton got Swinton’s first try just after the restart, but Roby extended the Oldham lead to 16-6. Two tries in seven minutes from Hatton and Butt gave Swinton an 18-16 lead but when Barran went in for the visitors on seventy to give Oldham a 22-18 it looked like the dream was all over. A Meadows try levelled the scores with two minutes left but the conversion sailed wide of the uprights to leave the sides all tied up on the final hooter.
It was another awful afternoon for the London Broncos as they took on the unbeatable Toulouse Olympique XIII. A try from Marion, two from Peyroux and a hat-trick from Vaivai gave Toulouse a 36-0 half time lead. Schaumkel and Ford (2) further extended the lead as the French side ran riot before Egodo saved a nilling with London’s only try of the game. Toulouse weren’t finished and Bretherton and Gigot also got four pointers for a 66-6 win.
It was far from a one-sided affair between Halifax and Newcastle as the two sides served up a humdinger of a game. Halifax scored three unanswered first half tries through McComb, Tibbs and Davies for a 12-0 half time lead but Johnson responded on fifty-five to narrow the lead to six points. Barber had kicked a penalty goal for 14-6 on sixty-six before Chapelhow scored a converted try for Thunder on seventy-three. The Panthers managed to hang on for the last six minutes to take the victory by 14-12.
Batley Bulldogs surprised Featherstone Rovers by taking a first half lead. Chisolm and Brown had put Rovers into a 12-0 lead but Gledhill and Johnson responded for Batley to level the scores before Gilmore kicked a drop goal on the half time hooter for 13-12. The second half went more to plan for Fev’ as they scored fourteen unanswered points for a 28-13 win. Blackmore, Walker and Halton all crossed the whitewash for what was, in the end, a comfortable win.
There was just two points between Whitehaven and Dewsbury after a game of two halves at the Recreation Ground. Jouffret, Williams and Bulman with a brace gave ‘Haven an 18-0 lead at half time. The Rams fightback took the form of tries from Gabriel, Dixon and Butterworth but a sixty-sixth minute penalty goal from Walmsley, Whitehaven’s only points of the second half, was enough for the 20-18 win.
The York City Knights came from behind to beat the Widnes Vikings as both sides jostle for play-off places. Owens had put Widnes ahead but O’Hagan responded before Cross made it 12-6 to the Vikings. O’Hagan got a second to level the scores before tries from Lyons and Tyrer for the Vikings gave them a 20-12 half time lead. York managed to keep the visitors scoreless in the second half while Dow-Nikau scored twice, O’Hagan completed his hat-trick and Teanby added a six try for good measure in a 34-20 win.
