Trio beaten as they bid to avoid drop

THERE were defeats all round as SWINTON, OLDHAM and ROCHDALE continued their battle to avoid claiming the final Kingstone Press Championship relegation spot.

The Lions hosted Sheffield at Heywood Road and enjoyed a dream start through debutant Ilias Bergal, but bombed numerous good chances as the visitors worked their way into a 14-6 lead inside the first half-hour.

Tries from Jack Murphy and Rob Lever either side of the Eagles’ fourth narrowed the gap to two points at the break, before Lever added his second to give Swinton the lead just after halftime.

It didn’t last long, however, with Sheffield taking control through Elliot Minchella and Ben Blackmore. Ben White’s try five minutes from time gave the Lions hope, but they ran out of time, falling to a 32-30 defeat.

Rochdale were reduced to 10 men at one point on their way to 32-14 loss at home to Batley.

Jake Ecclestone, Kevin Penny and Danny Yates got on the scoresheet for Alan Kilshaw’s side, but Gary Middlehurst’s red card for fighting, followed by yellows for Ben Moores and Jordan Case, prevented the Hornets getting back into the game in the second half.

An injury to Lewis Foster capped a difficult day for the home side, who currently sit in fifth – four points ahead of Oldham.

Roughyeds were blown away by Bradford in the opening 20 minutes, with the Bulls racing into a 20-0 lead.

Jack Spencer grabbed his first Oldham try after half an hour and there were scores for Danny Grimshaw and Michael Ward in the second half, but the alreadyrelegated visitors held on for a 20-16 win.