Championship round-up: Leigh Centurions put on a show as Batley beat Halifax

Drew Darbyshire 30 Jan 2022 5:03 PM

The Championship season started with a bang on Sunday, with Leigh Centurions putting 50 past Whitehaven and Batley edging past Halifax.

Leigh enjoyed an emphatic 50-4 win over Whitehaven at the Leigh Sports Village. Papua New Guinea international Nene Macdonald scored a hat-trick on his official debut for the Centurions. Kieran Dixon, Caleb Aekins, Keanan Brand, Tom Nisbet (2) and Mark Ioane crossed for the hosts.

Batley came from being 16-0 down to earn a remarkable 30-18 victory against Halifax. The Bulldogs scored four unanswered tries in the second half.

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Barrow won on their return to the Championship. They beat Sheffield Eagles 22-10 in Cumbria. Ellis Gillam, Tee Ritson and Hakim Miloudi scored for the Raiders. Ryan Shaw was prolific with the boot, nailing five goals to help secure the spoils for Barrow.

Bradford were in good form as they eased past Dewsbury 46-16 at The Tetley’s Stadium. Dec Patton, who arrived from Salford in the off-season, notched a personal points tally of 18. Matty Dawson-Jones and Kieran Gill both bagged braces for the Bulls.

London Broncos lost on their first game at Plough Lane, going down to a 34-12 defeat against Widnes. Vikings winger Ryan Ince bagged four tries in the capital, whilst Joe Edge got one.

Newcastle won 20-6 away at Workington. Jack Johnson, Nathan Wilde, Brad Gallagher and Alex Foster got on the scoresheet for full-time Thunder.

In the final game of the opening round, York take on Featherstone at the LNER Community Stadium. It will be shown live on Premier Sports.

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