Round Seven of the Betfred Championship 2022 threw up a few surprises as the sides continued to jostle for places in the early season table.

Leigh faced Dewsbury on Friday night in the Premier Sports game while five clashes took place on Sunday ahead of the Monday night televised game between Newcastle and Widnes.

Sunday saw Workington at home to York, Barrow face Batley  and Featherstone at home to Sheffield while Halifax entertained the third Cumbrian side Whitehaven and Bradford travelled down the length of the M1 to play the London Broncos.

Leigh Centurions demolished the Dewsbury Rams on Friday evening with a devastating 44-0 win. Macdonald, Inu and Aekins had all scored first half tries for a 16-0 half time lead but it would only get harder for the visitors in the second half as Brand, Asiata, McDonnell, Mellor and a second for Inu, to add to his six goals, sealed the fate of the Rams who were unable to register a single point.

Workington and York met in the Sunday early kick off with the visitors sprinting into a big first half lead thanks to tries from Harris, Thompson, Brown and Edwards. From 20-0 down at the break Henson scored Workington´s first try of the game just after the restart but Glover responded almost immediately. Henson got a second, and Forber added a third for the home side for 18-26 on the hour mark but tries in the last quarter from Harris, Jubb and Glover made the final score 44-18 to the City Knights.

It was a terrific first half performance from Whitehaven who scored four tries to the two grounded by the Panthers in a first half which ended 24-10 with King, Williams (2) and Eccleston crossing the whitewash for the Cumbrians, Keyes and Arundel responding for Halifax. But the second half was all one-way traffic as the Panthers scored seven tries without response for a 46-24 win. Kavanagh, Keyes, Gwaze, Barber, Walmsley and Moore all made it over the whitewash with Keyes kicking seven goals in the game.

Featherstone Rovers led from the off against the Sheffield Eagles with Leilua, Briscoe and Jacks rushing them into a 18-0 lead before Jones-Bishop got the first point for the Eagles. Briscoe added a second and Hall also got in on the try scoring action for a 26-4 interval lead. Broadbent and Reilly gave Sheffield some hope before Wildie scored a sixth Fev try. Bower got another for the visitors but late tries from Briscoe, his third, and Smith sealed a big 44-18 win to keep Featherstone top of the pile.

Barrow saw their hopes dashed as they crashed at home to the Batley Bulldogs after going behind to first half tries from Walshaw, White and Hooley. Shaw grabbed the only points of the first half for the Raiders as they trailed 6-20 at the interval. Buchanan had added another for Batley at the start of the second half before a small Barrow fightback through Morrow and Escare, but it was Whiteley who ended the try scoring for the afternoon to give the Bulldogs a 30-18 win.

It was a low scoring encounter in London as they took on Bradford. Dawson-Jones gave the visitors an early lead before a long stoppage while a supporter received medical attention. A Patton penalty goal just before the interval made it 8-0 to the Bulls but when Bienek scored a converted try for London with just over ten remaining it set up a nail-biting finish. The Bulls managed to defend their line to take the 8-6 win.

We will bring you a full match report of Newcastle v. Widnes tomorrow evening soon after the final hooter.