The tie of round four of the Kingstone Press Championship was at The Shay where two of the main contenders for the all-important top four, Halifax and Featherstone, had their first meeting of the season.

League leaders Leigh Centurions were in South Yorkshire to take on Doncaster in the early kick off and second placed Bradford Bulls were back at Odsal where Hunslet made the short thirteen mile trip.

Elsewhere, Dewsbury hosted Whitehaven, Workington were at London Broncos and Sheffield Eagles welcomed the Batley Bulldogs for the late kick-off.

Halifax were on the back foot from the outset as they trailed to tries from Sykes and Johnstone within the quarter hour. Tyrer got over for the home side on the hour mark but his side were four points behind at 6-10 going into the interval. Ellis extended Rovers lead to 16-6 on the hour mark and despite a Cahalane converted try eight minutes from time it was Andy Hays side who took the all important two points with an Arundel converted try two minutes from the hooter to seal a 24-12 away win.

The afternoons early kick-off was at the Keepmoat Stadium where Doncaster hoped to halt Leigh's unbeaten start to the season. Leigh had very different ideas as within the opening thirty minutes they had established a 26-0 lead with tries from Brierley (2), Barlow, McNally and Kay. Emmet pulled one back for the home side before half time but it was already looking like a good day for Paul Rowleys side. The second half was equally one sided as tries from Kay (another two to complete his hat-trick), Ridyard and Armstrong took Leigh beyond the fifty mark. Emmet added his second and Doherty gained Doncaster some respectability but Leigh were far too strong and completed a convincing 54-18 win.

Dewsbury Rams made it two wins in three outings as they twice came from behind to take the points from Whitehaven. McAvoy opened the visitors account with an unconverted try after eleven before Grant squared things soon after. Thackeray, with a converted try and a cheeky drop goal gave his side an 11-8 half time lead despite a late Hulme try for Whitehaven. Haven hit the front again on the fifty minute mark with a Parker try. A three minute purple patch saw Adams and Spicer cross for the home side for 23-12 and all that Whitehaven could offer in response was a Calvert unconverted try to reduce the losing margin to seven.

Bradford Bulls did their points difference the work of good at home against Hunslet despite the visitors boasting five players on-loan from the Leeds Rhinos. It was a procession of tries from Mullaney (2), Gaskell, O'Brien (2), Shaw (3), Williams and Olbison with eight conversions from Shaw. hunslets only response a converted Briscoe try when his side were already 40-0 behind. The Bulls points difference now thirty-one better than Leigh but still two points behind.

London Broncos got their second win of the season with a 34-16 victory over Workington. The Broncos were 12-0 up at the break thanks to four-pointers by Dwyer and Garside, both converted by Naiqama. Workington got themselves back in the game early in the second half with tries from Whiteley and Black and at that stage trailed by just two points, but the home side moved into another to secure the points. Tries from Wallace, Gilmore, Lovegrove and Macani answered only by a solitary try from Forber, sealed the win.

The afternoons late kick-off, due to the ground share with Doncaster at the Keepmoat, saw Batley Bulldogs visit Sheffield Eagles. It was a close game through the opening exchanges as a Brambini try was answered by Reittie and just after Yere went over for the Eagles, Leak responded for the Bulldogs. At that stage it was 12-10 but a spurt from the Eagles with tries from Yere and Worrincy just before half-time established a 20-10 lead. The second half saw just one try apiece with Scott for Batley and Togagae for Sheffield crossing the line. It ended up 28-16 for the Eagles lifting them to third in the table.

Leigh are still out on their own at the top, unbeaten in their opening four fixtures, closely followed by Bradford, Sheffield and Featherstone. Down at the bottom, Dewsbury and Doncaster have yet to get their seasons started.