Championship round-up: Toulouse crush Widnes, Batley march on & Hankinson shines for London
There were some remarkable scorelines in round five of the Championship.
Toulouse extended their unbeaten start and moved to the Championship summit by thrashing Widnes 70-0.
Andrew Dixon and Eloi Pelissier both grabbed hat-tricks as the French side crossed 13 times in total at Swinton’s Heywood Road.
Featherstone left it late to beat York 16-12 and maintain their 100% winning record in the league.
Craig Hall scored either side of a Gareth Gale try, including the decisive score three minutes from time, as Rovers came from 12-4 down to inflict defeat on James Ford’s Knights.
Elsewhere, surprise packages Batley continued their excellent start with a 30-18 victory at Sheffield.
Luke Hooley (2), Tom Gilmore, Dane Manning, Johnny Campbell and Elliott Hall all crossed for the Bulldogs. Rob Worrincy crossed twice for the hosts, racking up his 200th career try in the process, but it wasn’t enough.
Bradford condemned Swinton to their fifth straight defeat with a tense 23-22 triumph away from home.
Jordan Lilley’s drop goal to make it 23-10 just after the hour mark looked to have set the Bulls on course for a comfortable victory – their fourth in a row. Quickfire tries from Rhodri Lloyd and Jack Hansen set up a grandstand finish, but the Lions couldn’t quite do enough to register their first competition points of 2021.
On-loan Wigan centre Chris Hankinson amassed a personal 20-point haul as London triumphed over Newcastle in an 80-point thriller at Rosslyn Park.
Lebanon winger Abbas Miski and London-born Gideon Boafo also grabbed two tries apiece as the Broncos ran out 50-30 winners.
Callum Phillips scored four tries as Whitehaven registered their second win of the season and moved above Oldham in the Championship table.
Liam Cooper and Jessie Joe-Parker also crossed as Haven recovered from 4-0 down after Calum Green opened the scoring for the hosts just before the 30 minute mark.
Halifax registered their second win of the season and nilled Dewsbury in the process at the Tetley’s Stadium.
The Panthers ran out commanding 36-0 winners thanks to tries from Ed Barber (2), Brandon Moore, Nick Rawsthorne and Elliot Morris.
Championship round five results:
Sheffield Eagles 18-30 Batley Bulldogs
Swinton Lions 22-23 Bradford Bulls
London Broncos 50-30 Newcastle Thunder
Toulouse Olympique 70-0 Widnes Vikings
