League 1 round-up: Crusaders win Welsh derby, Workington beat Rochdale on the hooter & Hunslet draw with Doncaster
There was no shortage of late drama across League 1, despite a shortened weekend of action.
Barrow didn’t have things all their own way at London Skolars, but the early season pace-setters did enough to record a seventh successive win to start the season.
Jake Carter, Luke Cresswell and Harry Swarbrick helped put the Raiders in a comfortable position heading into half-time, before Tee Ritson kept up his excellent recent try-scoring form to wrap up a 24-14 victory with 10 minutes remaining.
Second-placed Workington kept their momentum going after overcoming depleted Rochdale 34-28 with the very last play of the game.
With the scores locked at 28-28, Carl Forber came up with an intercept score on the Hornets’ 30m line to win it for Town, seconds after team-mate Jamie Doran had missed with a late drop goal attempt.
A heart-breaking defeat at Derwent Park leaves Matt Calland’s men eighth in the table with just two wins from their opening seven league matches.
Elsewhere, Hunslet were denied victory at home to Doncaster after the visitors scored at the death to rescue an 18-18 draw at the South Leeds Stadium.
Matty Beharell’s determined finish from close range was enough for the points to be shared after a hard-fought affair. New utility forward Mikey Wood crossed twice for Hunslet, but it wasn’t enough for both competition points after a frantic finale.
North Wales ran out emphatic 60-10 winners over West Wales, who were without half-back Rangi Chase following his departure from the club earlier in the week.
Crusaders ran in a total of 12 tries at Stebonheath Park, half of which were converted by Brad Billsborough. Rob Massam scored a hat-trick for the visitors, with Tyme Dow-Nikau and Connor Aspey adding two each.
The final fixture of the round, Keighley’s trip to Coventry, was postponed earlier in the week after the number of positive COVID-19 cases and close contacts within the Cougars’ playing squad grew to nine after their latest round of testing.
That meant they met the RFL’s minimum threshold for postponing the fixture. A new date will be announced in due course.
League 1 round seven results:
West Wales Raiders 10-60 North Wales Crusaders
London Skolars 14-24 Barrow Raiders
Workington Town 34-28 Rochdale Hornets
Coventry Bears P-P Keighley Cougars
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