It was a weekend of interesting, rather than mouth-watering, fixtures. The highlight looked as though it might be the Warrington Wolves at home to the Leeds Rhinos, but with the Rhinos still carrying a long injury list you feared for their chances.

Bradford Bulls travelled to Wigan Warriors seeking to condemn them to a third consecutive loss, and before the match you’d have given the London Broncos no chance of getting close to the Catalans Dragons.

Salford Reds were over in Hull playing KR and there looked to be only one winner as the Huddersfield Giants visited the other side of Hull, to play FC. The Castleford Tigers were seeking a continuation of their Powell rebirth against St. Helens, and Monday nights game saw the Widnes Vikings visit Wakefield Wildcats.

Friday night ended up being the evening of close finishes and the Rhinos and the Bulls both almost upset the odds by grabbing the two points.

It was a scrappy but enthralling game at the Halliwell-Jones where the Rhinos tore up the odds sheet and led at half-time thanks to tries from Hall and Sutcliffe against a single score from Higham. The second half was a real nail-biter with the Rhinos extending their lead to 12-6 through Hall before home side drew level after a Ratchford converted try. Hardaker gave Leeds the upper hand on the hour mark when he converted his own try for 18-12 but three minutes later and Hodgson went over to square things again.

[PIC1]Lee Briers missed with two drop goal attempts before he broke Rhinos hearts with a last minute one-pointer to snatch the victory and the two points. The Rhinos had outscored the home side by four tries to three but the goal-kicking of Zak Hardaker allowed a famous win to slip through the fingers.

The Bulls mustn’t have been able to believe the ease with which they took a commanding lead at the DW Stadium, or the way that the Warriors fought back to grab their own last gasp winner.

Although Wigan opened the scoring through Charnley after just two minutes, the first half belonged entirely to the Bulls who had racked up a 16-4 lead my the interval thanks to tries from Platt, Sidlow and Bateman, two of them converted by Foster.

Foster added another penalty goal on fifty-eight before the home side changed gear and scored four tries in the last fifteen minutes through Charnley, Tuson (2) and Thornley. Richards converted the last three to edge his side to a 26-20 win over a stunned Bulls.

The Saturday game in the south of France seemed to be going entirely to form when Taia, Larroyer and Escare opened up a 16-0 lead. O’Callaghan snatched a try for the visitors but Escare and Bosc both added four-pointers for the Dragons before the half-time hooter for a convincing 28-4 lead.

[PIC2]Dureau extended the margin to 34-4 on forty-six and then the Dragons lifted their feet off the gas and started to free-wheel. The Broncos took full advantage and scored four converted tries in the last eighteen minutes through Bryant, Sarginson (2) and Dorn, to get within six points at 34-28.

Huddersfield Giants will have travelled to the KC Stadium confident of the win, but the home side made it far more difficult for them than they could have expected.

Green had given FC an early lead but tries from Wardle and Ta’ai, both converted by Brough saw Huddersfield 12-6 ahead. Yeaman grabbed a four-pointer just before the break but the conversion was missed and the home side trailed by two points at the interval.

McGillvary extended the lead to 16-10 on fifty-five before a converted try from O’Meley levelled up the scores on sixty-two. A nervy period followed before Brough once again proved himself the Giants saviour with a seventy-second minute try which he converted, enabling his side to defend for the remainder of the game and hold on for a tight win by 22-16.

[PIC3]Salford City Reds did all their scoring in the first half and by the end of the forty they must have been hopeful of another win under the new regime. Godwin, Wild and Ashurst all scored tries while Sneyd converted all three. The only response from KR was a nineteenth minute Paterson try, converted by Dobson, for an 18-6 away half-time lead.

As the first half had been all Salford, the second was all KR. Paterson, Dobson, Hall and Burns all scored tries, three of which Dobson converted for a great 28-18 fight back win.

Another ‘game of two halves’ took place at Castleford Tigers on Sunday where Daryl Powell hoped to continue his side’s resurgence against a Jekyll and Hyde St. Helens.

The home side got off to a great start with first half tries from Owen, Tansey and Hauraki only responded to once through a Makinson four-pointer, converted by O’Brien. At half time the Tigers were 16-8 ahead and seemed to be cruising.

[PIC4]The second half belonged to the Saints, despite two tries from Carney and Chase for the Tigers. St. Helens ran in six tries through Makinson, who completed his hat-trick, Lomax, Thompson and Walmsley. The visitors ran out as comfortable 40-24 winners after looking on the ropes at half-time.

The weekends final game saw a brutal encounter between Wakefield and Widnes as Monday night football drew over seven and half thousand through the gates.

Collis gave Wakefield a 6-0 lead and after Ah Van went in for the visitors, Lauitiiti extended the ‘Cats lead to 12-4 as the half-time hooter sounded. As the injury list mounted for the home side Mariano and Wildie, along with a Smith penalty took the home side 24-4 ahead and secured the two points.

Consolation tries from Hock and Hanbury showed the Widnes had some fight left in them but it wasn’t enough as Wakefield kept their push for a top six spot alive with a 24-14 win.