As it happened in Round 13 of the Betfred Championship…
Toulouse recorded their seventh win on the spin on Saturday in the third and final game at Stade Ernest-Wallon.
It was an action-packed afternoon in Toulouse as the England v France mid-season international double-header was played before Toulouse and Featherstone’s fixture in the evening.
The French outfit faced Featherstone on home soil and made it a third consecutive nilling over a team, as they consigned the Rovers to a fifth straight defeat.
Doncaster returned to winning ways with a victory over Swinton. The Dons produced a strong performance in an entertaining encounter, and came from behind in the second half to beat the Lions and overtake their opponents in the league table.
Joe Purcell was Swinton’s only try-scorer, before Reece Lyne, Bureta Faraimo and Tom Halliday each contributed a try for a Doncaster win.
On Sunday, Halifax claimed a convincing win over Whitehaven to remain in the mix for chasing down a Play-Off spot. Liam Finn’s men were trailing 0-14 inside the opening 30 minutes, but managed to produce 38 unanswered points in 50 minutes to take the two points.
Bradford also emerged victors in West Yorkshire with a big win over bottom-placed Dewsbury. The Rams had applied pressure early on, but there was no stopping the Bulls with their seven-try scoring spree, which included a Zac Fulton brace.
At the LNER Community Stadium, Sheffield proved too strong for York, who were unable to string together a third successive win.
The Knights did reduce a 12-0 deficit at half-time to just two points in what was a tight affair, but a late match-winning try from the Eagles’ Joe Farrell would ensure that Mark Aston’s men maintained second spot in the table.
Over in Widnes, Batley continued their resurgence with an emphatic win over the Vikings. It was a second trip to the DCBL Stadium for the Bulldogs this year, and they secured a win in style.
A close contest unfolded from the start as Batley struck first through Lucas Walshaw, but the Vikings responded through Mike Butt and Jack Owens.
The Bulldogs then replied through Dale Morton to give the visitors the advantage at the break, but Matty Fozard would later crash over from close range to restore the lead for Widnes.
The Vikings had led twice in the game, but were unable to hold onto the win as two late tries from Dane Manning and George Senior would see Batley through.
As a result, Mark Moxon’s men have climbed to seventh in the league - level on points with sixth-placed Featherstone, as the Championship competition is as close as ever.
Meanwhile, in Cumbria, Wakefield Trinity continued their unbeaten run with seven tries over Barrow Raiders. Derrell Olpherts starred once again in Round 13, claiming three tries for the second week running.
Oli Pratt, Jay Pitts, Josh Griffin and Lachlan Walmsley also added themselves to the scoresheet.
Betfred Championship Round 13 results:
Toulouse Olympique 20 Featherstone Rovers 0
Doncaster RLFC 18 Swinton Lions 8
Halifax Panthers 38 Whitehaven RLFC 18
Barrow Raiders 0 Wakefield Trinity 36
Dewsbury Rams 12 Bradford Bulls 38
Widnes Vikings 16 Batley Bulldogs 24
York Knights 10 Sheffield Eagles 18
The full fixture list for the Betfred Championship and all of the relevant information and kick-off times can be found here.
Photo Credit: Batley Bulldogs
