LEIGH Centurions continued their impressive form this season maintaining their 100 per cent record following a thrilling 54-16 victory over Widnes Vikings.

Leigh opened the scoring through centre Mick Nayn but it only took Widnes’ Simon Finnigan three minutes to level the scores in what was a tight first half.

Tom Armstrong restored the lead for Leigh but tries from Anthony Thackeray and Paddy Flynn, plus two goals from Steve Tyrer, gave Widnes a 16-8 lead at half-time.

Leigh then produced an emphatic second half display to run in eight tries, including doubles from Martyn Ridyard and Tyrone McCarthy, to score 46 unanswered points and seal an impressive win.

Vikings have now lost two consecutive games.

Four tries in the first ten minutes of the second half gave Barrow Raiders their first win of the season under new coach Nigel Wright, helping lift the Raiders off the foot of the table at the expense of York City Knights.

York opened the scoring through Jonny Presley but the Raiders managed to earn themselves a 16-10 half-time lead thanks to tries from Richard Fletcher, Gary Broadbent and Andy Ballard.

The Raiders then stepped up a gear with first Ballard followed by Liam Harrison, Chris Larkin and Zeb Luisi scoring within 12 minutes of the restart to open up a 36-10 lead.

Jamie Rooney rounded off the scoring for Barrow while John Davies got a consolation for York in the 76th minute to make the final score 42-16.

Half-back Paul Handforth scored 18 points to help Batley Bulldogs condemn promoted Hunslet Hawks to their first defeat of the season.

The Bulldogs led 10-4 at the break thanks to tries from Craig Potter and Alex Bretherton coming in response to David March’s opening score for the Hawks.

Hunslet took the lead through Richie Barnett minutes after the restart, but Batley’s Handforth grabbed two tries in three minutes in-between scores from Jonny Campbell and Paul Mennell to inspire his side to a 38-12 victory.

Sheffield Eagles won their second consecutive game in the Co-operative Championship by defeating Toulouse Olympique 34-16.

Eagles centre Menzie Yere and forward Joe Hirst both crossed the whitewash on two occasions in the opening half to help the Eagles take a comfortable 28-10 half-time lead with scores from Darren Nichols and Gregory White helping Toulouse get off the mark.

The Eagles extended their lead to 34-10 after Jason Crookes scored in the 54th minute and the score looked set to end that way until Sebastien Payan grabbed a consolation for the visitors in the dying moments.

Featherstone Rovers came from 20-12 down at half-time to beat Halifax RLFC 32-20 at The Shay in the repeat of the 2010 Co-operative Championship Grand Final.

Halifax captain Sean Penkywicz opened the scoring with winger Rob Worrincy scoring in his 11th consecutive match and Paul White scoring two tries in a four minute period to give Halifax an eight-point half-time lead.

Featherstone struggled to contain Halifax in the opening half but in the second half, scores from Bryn Powell and Andy Bostock brought the scores back level for a third time in the game.

Andy Kain’s try in the 56th minute put Featherstone in front for the first time and they were to remain ahead, with Andy Bostock grabbing a second try to ensure the Rovers gained some revenge for their Grand Final defeat last season.

Results:

Batley Bulldogs 38 Hunslet Hawks 12

Leigh Centurions 54 Widnes Vikings 16

York City Knights 16 Barrow Raiders 42

Sheffield Eagles 34 Toulouse Olympique 16

Halifax RLFC 20 Featherstone Rovers 32

Co-operative Championship One

South Wales Scorpions recorded their first victory of the Co-operative Championship One season following an impressive 60-20 victory over Gateshead Thunder.

The Scorpions scored seven tries in the first half to go into the break with a comfortable lead before scoring a further four tries in the second half.

Lewis Reece claimed a personal haul of 24 points from two tries and eight goals, while there were also try doubles for Christiaan Roets, Curtis Cunningham and Andrew Gay.

Doncaster RLFC continued their impressive start to their Championship One campaign with a 26-16 win over Workington Town.

Shaun Leaf, Kyle Keswik and Craig Fawcett all crossed for the Dons to give them a 16-0 half time lead with Leaf scoring a second after the break. Ryan Steen also scored to give Doncaster their third straight victory.

Workington got their first points on the board early in the second half through John Patrick, with Neil Frazer and Jack Pedley also touching down for Town but the damage had already been done.

Ian Mort helped himself to 26 points as Swinton Lions made it three wins out of three in the Co-operative Championship One with a comprehensive 68-24 defeat of Oldham Roughyeds.

Swinton ran in 12 tries with Mort claiming two for himself and adding another 18 points with the boot. Gavin Dodd and Karl Ashall also managed to cross the whitewash on two occasions for the Lions.

Oldham started the game brightly, taking a 12-0 lead in the opening ten minutes after tries from Ben Wood and Micky Diveny but it proved to be as good as it got for the Roughyeds as Swinton opened their scoring through Tommy Gallagher on the 24 minute mark and scored nine on the trot without response.

Jason Boults got on the score sheet twice in the second half for Oldham but it was too little, too late with Mort’s last minute try putting the icing on the cake.

Rochdale Hornets earned their first victory of the Co-operative Championship One seasonafter a 40-20 triumph over London Skolars.

Andrew Saywell scored a brace of tries for the Hornets while Paul Crook notched up 14 points for himself with a try and five goals. Debutant Danny Ekis rounded off the scoring for Rochdale in 77th minute to inflict a third straight defeat on the Skolars who are still searching for a first win of the season.

After starting the season on -9 points due to going into administration, Whitehaven RL returned to 0 league points following their third consecutive victory in The Co-operative Championship One with a 24-10 victory over Keighley Cougars.

The Cumbrians did all the damage in the first half, with Craig Calvert, Loz Hamzat, Derry Elibeck and David Ford all crossing the line to give Haven a comfortable 22-0 lead.

Keighley got the better of the second half with tries from Dan Belcher and Gavin Duffy getting them off the mark while Whitehaven only managed to add a penalty through Lewis Palfray but the Cougars couldn’t manage to claw their way back into contention.

Results:

South Wales Scorpions 60 Gateshead Thunder 20

Doncaster RLFC 26 Workington Town 16

Oldham Roughyeds 24 Swinton Lions 68

Rochdale Hornets 40 London Skolars 20

Whitehaven RLFC 24 Keighley Cougars 10