With the fixture between the Swinton Lions and Leigh Centurions falling victim to an unfit pitch, round four of the Betfred Championship comprised six fixtures which were all played on Sunday.

There were some intriguing games as Featherstone made the trip south to play London, winless York were at Halifax, the Bulls went into the Pennines to play Oldham, and in the evening kick-off it was Widnes on the road to Dewsbury.

Elsewhere Whitehaven were the hosts to Toulouse, and Batley had a home game against Sheffield.

It turned out that the closest game of the day was at the Fox’s Biscuit Stadium where the Sheffield Eagles secured a one point victory from the boot of Joe Farrell in the games dying seconds. Lunt had given the Bulldogs and early lead before Sheffield took control of the game in the ten minutes either side of half time. A try from Millar put Sheffield back within two at the interval and when Brown scored twice in five minutes, just after the restart, it was 16-6. Leak got one back for Batley but a Farrell penalty made it 18-12 with fifteen minutes left. A Brown try for Batley, converted by Morton, set up a nail-biting finish which saw the Farrell drop goal snatch the points, their first of the season.

Toulouse retained their top spot with a  40-4 demolition of Whitehaven. The scoring started as early as the fifth minute through Hitchcox who added a second on eighteen after Macron had scored Olympique’s second. Barthau added a fourth try on the half hour for a 22-0 interval lead. Thompson got Whitehaven’s only points of the game just after the restart before Bell, Sangare and a hat-tricj try for Hitchcox sealed the big win.

Featherstone continued their one-hundred percent start to the season as they took the win at London Broncos. Harrison, Blackmore and Bussey grabbed a 14-0 interval lead with Hall, Jouffret and Hardcastle making it 34-0 on sixty-six minutes. London’s only points came in the last eight minutes as Odgen and Pelissier scored four pointers to spare some blushes in a 34-10 defeat.

Bradford Bulls recorded their first win of the season as they blitzed Oldham in the opening twenty minutes. Hallas, Crossley and Pickersgill were the fast starters and all scored in the opening ten and with Cator adding the fourth try on twenty it was 24-0 before Oldham had even got started. Two Bridge tries in the second half, both converted by Abram, were separated by a Milnes penalty but the early damage had long since ended the contest. The Bulls running out as 26-12 winners.

York City Knights find themselves propping up the table as they crashed to a third defeat, this time at the hands of Halifax. Robinson (2) and Tyrer established an 18-0 lead at the break which Woodburn-Hall and Grix extended to 28-0 before York’s only try of the afternoon, from Keinhorst, avoided the nilling. Halifax are sat in fifth place thanks to a 28-4 win.

The evening game was at Dewsbury where the Rams sprang a 20-8 surprise over the Widnes Vikings. Full match report here.