Travellers Fall To Home Advantage

Ahead of a break due to the Challenge Cup Quarter Finals, round 15 will certainly leave a mark after a weekend of joy for five of the seven hosts as home advantage duly paid dividends.

Giants End Warriors Streak

In a 'battle of the champions', Huddersfield hosted Wigan with the Warriors buoyed by the return of captain Sean O'Loughlin who marked his return with the opening try with Smith converting to create a 6-0 lead for the visitors.

Huddersfield fell further behind when a superb run from Bowen saw him cross for a brilliant try with Smith again successful with the boot for 0-12. Huddersfield responded well and reduced the deficit after nice play in the middle saw Murphy score in the corner with Brough converting for 6-12.

Huddersfield were in again when Lunt crossed the Wigan line and his try was awarded after a review with Brough converting for 12 all before taking the lead through Wardle whose try was added to by Brough's conversion for 18-12.

Huddersfield increased their lead as Wardle raced clear to score after what looked to be a forward pass but the try stood and Brough converted for 24-12 before adding a drop goal for 25-12 leaving Wigan with a lot to do to comeback.

Wigan reduced the deficit  with a superb last tackle kick finding Manfredi who grounded the ball superbly but Smith's missed conversion attempt meant a nine point gap at 25-16 and their hopes looked to be in tatters when a huge mistake from Burgess allowed McGillvary to race clear for an easy try with Brough maintaining his record with the boot for a 31-16 lead.

Even though their winning record was coming to a certain end, Wigan did have the last say as a nice pass out wide found Burgess who crossed for a try with Smith converting for a final score of 31-22 which meant an incorrect prediction and wide hopes of 16-24.

Bridge Stars For Wolves 

Warrington boosted their hopes of a top four finish with a comfortable win over table toppers Leeds who travelled to the Wolves looking to complete a double. 

Bridge put the hosts in front with a superb run that saw him cross the Leeds line for the opening try before adding a successful conversion for a 6-0 lead which increased just after the half-hour mark when Myler's run saw him pick out Hill who crossed for a try which Bridge converted for a 12-0 lead.

Leeds fell further behind when Bridge struck his second try of the evening while adding a third conversion for a 18-0 lead which could have been more in the final seconds of the half had Ablett not superbly tackled Monaghan into touch with the try line in sight. 

Warrington continued their scoring run into the second half when Bridge sent over a penalty to increase the gap to 20 points meaning Leeds would need at least four scores to avoid defeat and the prospect of being overtaken at the top.

Leeds responded with a try from Leuluai with Sinfield's conversion reducing the gap to 14 points at 20-6 but the final say went to Monaghan as he crossed for a try in the 73rd minute and despite Bridge missing the conversion, Warrington sealed a 24-6 win. Another incorrect result and wide with the prediction of 12-18.

Vikings Comeback Stuns Dragons

After a humbling in Perpignan earlier in the season, Widnes hosted Catalan looking to avoid being doubled by the Dragons but after only seven minutes, Catalan were in front as Millard crossed for the opening try but Bosc's miss with the boot meant a slim 0-4 lead.

Four minutes later, the Dragons were in again with Duport striking for a try with Bosc redeeming himself with the conversion for a 0-10 lead but Widnes responded well with Hanbury scoring in the 18th minute followed by a Tickle conversion for 6-10.

Widnes levelled with a try from White in the 28th minute but Tickle's missed conversion denied them a lead at 10 all but the lead did come inside five minutes as Marsh crossed for the hosts with Tickle converting for 16-10 to send them in front into the interval.

Catalan responded within eight minutes of the second half with Escare scoring a try and Bosc converting to level the sides at 16 all before the Dragons went in front three minutes later as Pryce crossed the Vikings line with Bosc's conversion making it 16-22.

After a superb fightback, Catalan were on fire as they posted another try through Oldfield but Bosc's missed conversion left a gap of ten points for Widnes to cancel out, a task they began on the hour mark when Owens scored but Tickle's miss with the boot left them a converted try behind at 20-26.

Last season, the sides shared the points in a 32 all draw but as time ticked down it seemed Catalan were on their way to completing a double over Widnes but Brown thought otherwise as he crossed for a try and despite a mixed evening with the boot, Tickle converted well for 26 all and a share of the points.

An incorrect result but a close prediction of 22-28 meaning the best possible outcome for the week was now 4/7. 

Wellens Double Downs Salford

St Helens reclaimed top spot from Leeds with a comfortable win over the struggling Salford Red Devils who fell behind in the 16th minute to a try from Wellens with Walsh's missed conversion attempt meaning a slim lead at 4-0.

Soliola crossed to extend the lead in the 27th minute with Walsh converting for 10-0 which soon became 16-0 when Hohaia struck and Walsh converted for a second time to give Salford a lot to do to comeback.

Five minutes into the second half, Salford responded with a try from Evalds and Smith's conversion reduced the deficit to 16-6 to give them hope of ending their poor form. However, Saints had other ideas as they raced further ahead when Wheeler crossed and Walsh converted to move to 22-6 before Walsh made it 24-6 with a penalty.

Salford surely needed to score next to have any hopes of coming back and avoid being doubled but when Wellens scored his second try in the 61st minute and Walsh converted for 30-6, heads dropped in the away terrace as another loss was on the cards,

The visitors reduced the deficit seven minutes later when Hock crossed for a try and Smith added a conversion for 30-12 but with only 12 minutes remaining, three tries was still a possibility for the visitors but the last say went to the hosts with Walsh scoring a last minute penalty for a 32-12 win. A correct result and achingly close prediction of 30-12.

Nine Try Hull Thrash London

London's horrific losing run extended to 15 as they were convincingly beaten by Hull who bounced back from a bad run of form with a superb 50 point haul but had to come from behind when Greenwood put the hosts ahead in the seventh minute with a try that was converted by Drinkwater for 6-0.

Ellis crossed for Hull five minutes later with Miller's conversion levelling the score at 6 all ahead of two tries in three minutes for the visitors from Lancaster and Westerman with both converted by Miler for a 6-18 lead.

Shaul crossed three minutes before the interval to extend the lead to 6-22 with Miller missing the conversion attempt but London reduced the deficit just seven minutes into the second half through Caton-Brown with Drinkwater converting for 12-22.

The ten point gap lasted until the hour mark when Hull added three further tries with Houghton crossing in the 61st minute ahead of Westerman and Lancaster claiming their second efforts of the afternoon in the 66th and 69th minutes all converted by Rankin for 12-40.

Hull completed the rout in style with two tries in the last three minutes, Rankin crossed for a try of his won but missed out on a perfect record with the boot before Talanoa struck for the final try with Rankin redeeming himself to secure a huge 12-50 win. A correct result but wide with the prediction of 16-26.

Wakefield Suffer Bulls Double

After London's heavy defeat on Saturday, Bradford knew a win over fellow strugglers Wakefield this afternoon would boost their survival hopes and two tries in nine minutes gave them a great start as Purtell and Olbison crossed for scores with both converted by Gale for a 12-0 lead.

Purtell sealed his second try of the afternoon on the half-hour mark and despite Gale missing with the boot, the Bulls led 16-0 at the interval. Wakefield responded with a try from Ryan which Sammut successfully converted as thoughts of their recent second half comebacks and Hull and Widnes came to mind.  

However, they suffered a blow when Moore was sin binned in the 52nd minute but surprisingly Bradford failed to use the extra man to their advantage aside from a Gale penalty in the 56th minute for 18-6. Wakefield's hopes slipped with six minutes remaining when Gale sent over a second penalty for a lead of 14 points at 20-6. 

Although the result was already confirmed, Wakefield had the last say when Ryan claimed his second try and Sammut converted for a final score of 20-12. An incorrect result and a wide prediction of 16-25.

Tigers End Robins Flight

After a good run of form, Hull KR faced a tough trip to Castleford and came away with their confidence in tatters after the Tigers ran in 11 tries in a comfortable win.

Channing put the hosts in front inside four minutes with Sneyd converting for a 6-0 lead before Dorn crossed for a try eight minutes later for a 10-0 lead with Sneyd missing the conversion attempt. Castleford were on fire and struck a third try in the 22nd minute when Millington crossed and Sneyd converted for 16-0.

Three tries in eight minutes put Castleford 28-0 up at the interval with Dixon crossing ahead of second tries of the afternoon for Channing and Dorn with Sneyd missing all three conversion attempts in what was becoming a mixed afternoon for him.

The Robins responded with Burns crossing in the 48th minute before successfully converting his own try to reduce the deficit to 28-6. However, the small joy was limited as Castleford scored twice in five minutes through Ellis and Dorn completing his hat-trick with Sneyd converting both for a 40-6 lead.

Any slim hopes that the Robins had vanished when Weyman was dismissed for dissent, a blow that worsened when Webster and Huby crossed in the space of two minutes with a single conversion from Sneyd for 50-6.

Clare sealed the win with a try six minutes from the end but the Robins had the last say when Ulugia scored in the final minute with Burns converting for a final score of 54-12. A correct result but miles off with the prediction of 31-30.