News

Round nine of Betfred League 1 in 2022 starts tomorrow (Saturday) with three of the four scheduled games taking place.

The fixtures start at Heywood Road with Swinton Lions hosting the Choughs – 2.00pm and streamed live and for free via OurLeague.

The Lions have suffered just one reverse on home soil this term when they were defeated by table topping North Wales Crusaders in round five.

Last time out, Allan Coleman’s side overcame a stubborn Hunslet outfit to prevail 28-16 at the South Leeds Stadium. Jack Render scored the game’s first four-pointer after six minutes but Swinton hit back with a two-try burst shortly after through Louis Brogan and Lewis Charnock.

The game remained very much in the balance until just shy of the first half time hooter when interchange George Roby snuck over from close to the Hunslet line.

That gave the Lions an 18-6 interval advantage and they got their collective noses further in front three minutes after the restart as Jack Hansen dotted down. 

The first of two second half tries from Wayne Rettie gave Hunslet a glimmer of hope but this was extinguished by Mike Butt’s 68th minute score. Rettie and Hunslet had the final word in the dying embers although this proved to be nothing more than a consolation from the Parksiders.

At 3.00pm tomorrow, Hunslet, after two consecutive home games, are on the road as they face West Wales Raiders – the Choughs’ conquerors from round eight.

A brace from Callum Merrett helped the Raiders prevail 20-0 in the rain at Penryn with the Llanelli-based outfit’s tally completed by tries in each half from Fergus Simpson and Kian Fisher.

The third and final game tomorrow comes at Spotland as Rochdale Hornets host Doncaster.

Both teams enjoyed contrasting results in round eight as Donny, led by Sam Smeaton’s fine treble, were 44-12 winners at London Skolars. The hosts, who prop up the rest, scored two tries with Aaron Small and Leighton Ball registering.

For Rochdale, they were defeated 40-16 at Keighley Cougars with the hosts delivering a powerful second half showing. The game was on a knife-edge after 40 minutes with Keighley holding a narrow 12-10 advantage.

However, the undefeated Cougars kicked on in the second 40 after a spell ill-discipline cost Rochdale as both Paul Brearley and Ben Killan spent time in the sin-bin either side of the hour mark.

The Cougars host Midlands Hurricanes on Sunday while Oldham’s round nine visit to London Skolars takes place next Friday. This game has been dubbed as an unofficial curtain raiser to the AB Sundecks 1895 Cup and Betfred Challenge Cup finals which take place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, May 28.

North Wales Crusaders are the team to sit out round nine after yet another powerful victory in their previous clash. Anthony Murray’s men were 30-16 winners over Oldham in Colwyn Bay to top the pile and keep their 100 per cent record.

The win was tainted by a red card for each side in the dying embers as home stand-off Jordy Gibson and Roughyeds’ scrum-half Dave Hewitt were sent off by merry whistle blower Michael Mannifield.