All six games in round 18 of the Kingstone Press Championship took place on Sunday afternoon with the game of the round looking like the third placed tussle between Bradford Bulls and Batley Bulldogs.

Elsewhere table toppers Leigh Centurions were at home to Workington, second placed London Broncos had a home game against Oldham. The sides chasing that all-important fourth spot included Halifax who had a short trip to Dewsbury and Featherstone who played hosts to Whitehaven.

The final game was essentially a dead-rubber between Swinton and the Sheffield Eagles.

It looked tasty and it was tasty as Bradford hosted Batley. Two tries from Clare gave the Bulls an 8-0 lead after twenty but Southernwood, with a try converted by Walker, and Ulugia edged the Bulldogs into a narrow 10-8 lead at the break. A Pitts try, converted by Heggarty, on sixty-seven gave the Bulls a 14-10 lead and three minutes later a Heggarty penalty made it 16-10. The Bulldogs weren't done though and a minute later Southernwood scored a converted try to level the scores. A draw would have been a fair result but Heggarty kicked a drop goal on seventy-six to snatch the points for the Bulls and lift his side to third.

Leigh Centurions had an easy time of it as they entertained Workington. Reynolds, Worthington, Drinkwater and Kay gave the home side a 24-0 lead at the interval. Workington gave themselves some hope through Mossop and Whiteley tries narrowing the margin to 24-12, but Leigh dominated the rest of the game. Drinkwater, Spencer, Higson, Reynolds and Paterson all ran in tries in the last twenty-two minutes for a 54-12 win.

London Broncos also had an easy game at home to Oldham Roughyeds. First half tries from Harrison, Hellewell, Kear and a nineteen minute Williams hat-trick saw them 34-0 up at the interval. Chisolm scored the opening try of the second half through Chisolm but Macani (2), Hellewell and Offerdahl all scored for London before two late consolation tries for Holmes and Ward got the Roughyeds into double figures, losing by 56-16.

Halifax lifted themselves above Batley into fourth spot with a confident win at Dewsbury. There was stalemate until a Hale try on the twenty-eighth minute and four minutes later Morton added a second to give Dewsbury an 8-0 lead. Just before the interval there was a Halifax double-whammy with Moore and Saltonstall both crossing to give the visitors a 10-8 lead at the break. Second half tries from Cahalane and Robinson sealed the 'Fax' win by 24-8.

Featherstone kept their top four hopes alive with a solid win at home to Whitehaven despite going behind to a Walker try on twenty-seven after a Foster penalty had given them a fifteenth minute lead. A Briggs converted try just before the break sent the home side into the sheds with an 8-6 lead. A Lilley converted try on fifty-five made it 14-6 but a converted Burns try for 'Haven got them back into the game at 14-12. It was still close going into the closing ten but tries from Ormondroyd and Griffin, both converted by Foster eased Rovers to a 26-12 victory.

Swinton Lions and Sheffield Eagles had little to play for but still put on a show. A Lloyd try converted by Atkin and two Atkin penalties gave the Lions a 10-0 lead before Neal and Blackmore, and an Aston penalty edged Sheffield 12-10 ahead at the break. Leuluai-Togagae extended the Eagles lead to 18-10 just after the interval but tries from Lloyd on the hour mark and Dwyer nine minutes later scrambled a 22-18 Swinton win.

There are some mouthwatering prospects next weekend when Leigh play London, Bradford host Halifax and Batley take on Dewsbury as the race for the top four hots up.