Ahead of an Easter double in rounds nine and ten, round eight saw surprises and late wins.
Giants Dwarved By Hull
Thursday night saw Hull stun Huddersfield in a 30-6 win as the Giants slipped to a second consecutive away loss and their fourth defeat in a row while Hull made it two wins from five.
A perfect start for FC came as they went 8-0 up inside seven minutes with tries from Talanoa and Whiting with the lead extended 20-0 after tries from Rankin and Houghton (Rankin/Whiting convs).
Huddersfield reduced the deficit with a try and conversion from Houghton and Brough for 20-6 but in the second half, Hull sealed the win with Miller's try in the 49th minute converted by Whiting for 26-6 and the icing on the cake came from Hadley crossing on the hour for 30-6. Correct result and correct Hull score just out with Hudds on 30-22 prediction.
Red Devils Win Over Bulls
A debut win for new Salford coach Iestyn Harris came on a return to his former side Bradford in a 24-38 victory.
Mullaney scored the opening try for Salford after only five minutes but his missed conversion meant a 0-4 lead which was cancelled out in the 20th minute when Purtell crossed for the hosts and Foster converted for 6-4.
Sa'u scored and Mullaney converted as Saford took the lead five minutes later at 6-10 and went further in front with two tries in the space of six minutes from Smith and Ashurst with Mullaney converting both for a 6-22 lead at halftime.
Bradford came back with a quick start to the second period as Sidlow crossed and Foster's conversion made it 12-22. Puletua reinstated the 16 point gap with a try in the 50th minute with Mullaney converting for 12-28.
The scoring died down but came back in style with four tries in the final ten minutes, Kear scored for Bradford and Foster's conversion made it 18-28 but Chase crossed and Mullaney kicked for 18-34.
Henry crossed for the hosts and Foster converted for 24-34 but Salford confirmed the win in the final minute with a try from Meli for 24-38 to continue Bradford's poor league run.
A debut win for new Salford coach Iestyn Harris came on a return to his former side Bradford in a 24-38 victory.
Mullaney scored the opening try for Salford after only five minutes but his missed conversion meant a 0-4 lead which was cancelled out in the 20th minute when Purtell crossed for the hosts and Foster converted for 6-4.
Sa'u scored and Mullaney converted as Saford took the lead five minutes later at 6-10 and went further in front with two tries in the space of six minutes from Smith and Ashurst with Mullaney converting both for a 6-22 lead at halftime.
Bradford came back with a quick start to the second period as Sidlow crossed and Foster's conversion made it 12-22. Puletua reinstated the 16 point gap with a try in the 50th minute with Mullaney converting for 12-28.
The scoring died down but came back in style with four tries in the final ten minutes, Kear scored for Bradford and Foster's conversion made it 18-28 but Chase crossed and Mullaney kicked for 18-34.
Henry crossed for the hosts and Foster converted for 24-34 but Salford confirmed the win in the final minute with a try from Meli for 24-38 to continue Bradford's poor league run.
Castleford Suffer Saints Comeback
At 28-20 with six minutes to go, Castleford looked to be ending St Helens 100% run but Saints came back to win 28-30 to kake it eight wins in a row.Castleford started perfectly with Webster crossing for the opening try inside three minutes with Sneyd converting for 6-0, Shenton and Millington added two tries in five minutes wth Sneyd's double conversion making it 18-0 and Saints looked to be in for a beating.
Soliola scored for the visitors and Walsh converted for 18-6 just before the half-hour but Shenton's second try reinstated the 18 point lead with Sneyd converting for 24-6 at halftime.
Lomax scored to reduce the gap in the 46th minute for 24-10 and Makinson crossed seven minutes later but missed conversions meant Cas were still in control at 24-14. Carney put the hosts further in front at 28-14 with Turner responding for Saints in the 68th minute with Walsh converting for 28-20.
Castleford looked to be staging a shock but Saints ruined the joy with two tries in three minutes from Wellens (Walsh conv) and Swift to secure a crucial 28-30 win that keeps their 100% record intact ahead of the fierce Good Friday derby with Wigan. A close prediction of 25 all looked off with minutes left but Saints turned it around stunningly.
Peacock Stars Against Wakefield
After hammering the Wildcats in the Challenge Cup, Leeds did the same in
the league on a momentous night for Jamie Peacock who made his 500th
career appearance in a 42-6 win.
Sutcliffe put the hosts in front in the ninth minute with Sinfield converting, Hall added a second score five minutes later with Sinfield converting again for 12-0.
Briscoe and Ablett crossed with Sinfield converting both for a 24-0 halftime lead and Peacock marked his milestone with a rare try just before the hour mark with Sinfield continuing his success from the boot for 30-0.
Wakefield were in danger of another 50+ loss and even more so when Clarkson crossed and Sinfield kicked his sixth conversion for 36-0 but Wakefield avoided a nilling as Sammut crossed for a try and converted for 36-6.
Leeds has the final say as Burrow scored and Sinfield converted for a 42-6 win that came close to my prediction of 48-12.
Sutcliffe put the hosts in front in the ninth minute with Sinfield converting, Hall added a second score five minutes later with Sinfield converting again for 12-0.
Briscoe and Ablett crossed with Sinfield converting both for a 24-0 halftime lead and Peacock marked his milestone with a rare try just before the hour mark with Sinfield continuing his success from the boot for 30-0.
Wakefield were in danger of another 50+ loss and even more so when Clarkson crossed and Sinfield kicked his sixth conversion for 36-0 but Wakefield avoided a nilling as Sammut crossed for a try and converted for 36-6.
Leeds has the final say as Burrow scored and Sinfield converted for a 42-6 win that came close to my prediction of 48-12.
Rovers Avenge Cup Exit
After a narrow defeat to Warrington in the Challenge Cup, Hull KR gained revenge with a 12-25 win ahead of their City derby next week.
A tight game saw the sides level at 0-0 until the 36th minute when Weyman put the Rovers ahead and Burns converted for a 0-6 halftime lead.
Burns crossed for a try of his own five minutes after the interval and converted for 0-12 with Keating increasing the lead before the hour with Burns' conversion making it 0-18.
Warrington got on the board through Myler with Bridge converting for 6-18, Burns kicked a drop goal for 6-19 meaning the Wolves needed to score three times but that soon became four when Weyman claimed his second try with Burns converting for 6-25.
Myler crossed for his second try with seven minutes remaining and Bridge converted for 12-25 but KR held firm to avenge their Cup exit. After pipping and failing with KR in the Cup, I knew a backlash would come was proved right but not in score terms (24-28.)
Warriors Avoid London Scare
This game was a mismatch on paper but ten minutes in the home fans were in disbelief as London took a 0-10 lead with scores from O'Callaghan and McMeeken (Drinkwater conv).
Wigan had rested a number of stars ahead of the Easter programme but it was the ex-Broncos duo of Clubb (Williams conv) and Sarginson crossing to bring the score level at 10 all.
Thornley ensured the Warriors lead at the interval with a nice solo try with Willams converting for 16-10. London' pushed to level after the break but fell further behind when Clubb crossed again with Williams converting for 22-10 and Sarginson claiming his second try nine minutes later for a 26-10 lead.
London reduced the deficit as Macani squeezed in for a try in the corner but a missed conversion meant they were still 12 points behind with five minutes left.
Wigan confirmed the win as Thornley made it a trio of braces with his second try and for the second successive home game, Wigan ended with a Bowen special as full back went full length for a stunning try with Williams kicking on the hooter to seal a 36-14 win. Correct result but closer than I expected (50-12.)
This game was a mismatch on paper but ten minutes in the home fans were in disbelief as London took a 0-10 lead with scores from O'Callaghan and McMeeken (Drinkwater conv).
Wigan had rested a number of stars ahead of the Easter programme but it was the ex-Broncos duo of Clubb (Williams conv) and Sarginson crossing to bring the score level at 10 all.
Thornley ensured the Warriors lead at the interval with a nice solo try with Willams converting for 16-10. London' pushed to level after the break but fell further behind when Clubb crossed again with Williams converting for 22-10 and Sarginson claiming his second try nine minutes later for a 26-10 lead.
London reduced the deficit as Macani squeezed in for a try in the corner but a missed conversion meant they were still 12 points behind with five minutes left.
Wigan confirmed the win as Thornley made it a trio of braces with his second try and for the second successive home game, Wigan ended with a Bowen special as full back went full length for a stunning try with Williams kicking on the hooter to seal a 36-14 win. Correct result but closer than I expected (50-12.)
Whitehead Treble Downs Vikings
The final game of the weekend saw Widnes make the long trip to Perpignan to face Catalan but they came unstuck in a 42-20 defeat.
Pomeroy put the hosts ahead after six minutes and Whitehead added a second score six minutes later for 8-0.
Widnes fell to three scores behind when Escare crossed and Bosc hit his first conversion for 14-0 but the Vikings came back with two tries in five minutes from Flynn and Owens (Tickle conv) to bring the score to 14-10.
Whitehead crossed for a second time to put Catalan clear at the break but Widnes fell further back only seven minutes after the restart as Duport struck but the conversion miss meant the lead went to 20-10 giving Widnes hope.
However, Catalan increased the gap with Pomeroy's second with the kicking problems continuing with only 2/8 successes between the sides resulting in a 24-10 gap.
Whitehead completed his hat-trick four minutes later with Bosc converting for 30-10. White crossed for Widnes with Tickle's conversion closing the gap at 30-16.
The final six minutes saw a trio of tries as Catalan confirmed the win, Duport scored his second with Escare converting for 36-16 and Millard's try brought up the 40 point mark before Widnes had the final say with Owens crossing in the 79th minute for 42-20. Correct result but a bigger gap than I expected (29-28).
An exciting week overall and a good success personally with 6/7 correct results.
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