Round 12 saw a last-minute victory for the Wakefield Wildcats, 50 points put up against the Braford Bulls and yet another win for the Rhinos.
Castleford Tigers vs Leeds Rhinos
The Thursday night game was arguably the best of the round. Castleford, who were 3rd place in the table at the time, against 1st place Rhinos, and what a close game it was. A tight first half which saw the Tigers go into the break with a 14-12 lead, but in the second half the Rhinos kept the Tigers scoreless and scored 2 tries themselves to snatch the victory. A big crowd for a Thursday night game, indicating that the Thursday night games are successful in our competition. 22-14 to the Rhinos was the full time score, with a crowd of 9,208 at The Mend-A-House Jungle.
Widnes Vikings vs Wakefield Wildcats
The Wildcats gave the Vikings their first defeat in four matches, with Paul Sykes snatching Wakefield the win in the last minute of the game. Widnes are still going well this season though, and are still 6th place in the Super League table. Thanks to Sykes, Wakefield won 24-18, with a crowd of 5,186 at the Select Security Stadium.
Hull FC vs Wigan Warriors
Wigan had a few big names named out of this game due to injury, including fullback Bowen, captain O’Loughlin and the Ginger Pearl, Farrell. This didn’t put them in the underdog category for this game though, and I think they quite surprised Hull FC and their fans. Dan Sarginson filled in at Fullback, with both Bowen and Hampshire out, but this didn’t scare him as he scored a hat-trick of trie. Also, although he’s not that popular with the fans, Anthony Gelling impressed again and scored 2 tries, making his tally a total of four tries in 4 appearances this year. 44-16 the fulltime score to Wigan, with 10, 539 at the KC Stadium,
Warrington Wolves vs Catalans Dragons
The televised Friday night game saw the Wolves take on the Dragons, and with the Dragons improving each week and the Wolves looking lost recently, I thought this would be an easy win for Catalan. Oh, how wrong was I. Warrington surprised not only myself, but I can imagine a fair amount of people, with a 42-10 victory over the Dragons with a crowd of just 8,816 at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, which is worryingly low for a Warrington fixture.
Salford Red Devils vs Hull KR
Again, I thought Hull KR would win this one, but Salford came back in the second half to snatch a share of the 2-points in this game. A game which had lots to talk about after it, with a try from Meli which looked suspiciously like a no-try on the highlights, and another pitch invader going to confront the ref. Oh, Rugby League. 16-16 was the score at the end of this one, with both sides sharing the points, with a crowd of just 2,903 at the AJ Bell Stadium. Again, worryingly low and that won’t be making Dr Koukash happy!
London Broncos vs Huddersfield Giants
This was the Broncos’ first game under new coach, Grima, and it was a closer game than people expected. It’s clear to see Grima has already had a massive impact on the side, as they gave the Giants a good run for their money, as they lead at half time 16-10. However, Giants held London scoreless in the second half, and this is where Giants rose to victory. 30-16 the fulltime score to Huddersfield, with again another low crowd of just 1,035.
Bradford Bulls vs St Helens
The least-closest game of the round, with Saints scoring a half century of points against the Bulls, who would have been looking to continue their success from their win over the Warrington Wolves last week. Tries from Wilkin, Walsh, Lomax, Makinson, Swift, Soliola, McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Roby saw St Helens ease to victory. 50-0 the fulltime score here, with a crowd of 6,311 at the Provident Stadium.
Some scary low attendances in this round, but this will soon all be forgotten as next weekend is, of course, the Magic Weekend! One Stadium, 7 games and a whole lot of entertainment! I can’t wait.
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