Lions claw their way to vital win over Rams

THE 12 men of SWINTON withstood a late fightback to record a huge 29-28 victory over Dewsbury at Heywood Road.

Lions centre Chris Hankinson was shown a red card with 10 minutes remaining, but by that point he’d already scored what would prove to be the winning dropgoal in his 50th appearance for the club.

Swinton trailed 16-10 at half-time despite scores from George Tyson and Gabe Fell, but three tries in just over five second-half minutes from Josh Ganson, Rhodri Lloyd and Tyson put Stuart Littler’s side in a commanding position.

Hankinson’s one-pointer on the hour mark sealed the win, which sees the Lions move just a point behind the 10th-placed Rams in the Betfred Championship table.

It was a very different story for bottom club ROCHDALE, who found themselves on the wrong end of a 80-4 scoreline at Featherstone.

Tyler Whittaker crossed early in the second half, but by that point the result had long been decided, largely thanks to six tries from Brad Dwyer – featuring on dual registration from Leeds Rhinos.

On Saturday evening, LEIGH’S top-four ambitions took a hit in Canada, where Kieron Purtill’s side fell to a 46-28 defeat to league leaders Toronto.

Ben Crooks and Daniel Mortimer got two apiece and Kyle Lovett also scored, but a 24-0 halftime lead had already put the Wolfpack well on their way to victory.

In League 1, OLDHAM fell to a narrow 16-14 defeat at home to Workington.

Matt Reid opened the scoring for Roughyeds, but the visitors ran in 16 unanswered points before Ben West and Kyran Johnson crossed late on – and it proved too little, too late for Scott Naylor’s side.