Championship Shield: Hunslet thump London Broncos

Hunslet boosted their chances of avoiding relegation with a 41-24 Championship Shield victory over London, which dents the Broncos' hopes of a home play-off semi-final.

London went into the break at the Hive with a 14-12 lead after Matt Garside, James Cunningham and Sadiq Adebiyi had traded tries with Kyle Trout and George Flanagan.

But the hosts struggled to live with the Hawks after the restart, with Ryan Backhouse, Lewis Reed and James Duckworth all crossing before Jason Walton was sin-binned as London's frustration continued.

Simon Brown slotted over a drop goal and then added a penalty to make it 35-18 after Ben Hellewell's try had given London hope.

Hellewell went over again but there was still time for Jack Lee to score to complete a notable win for Hunslet, their first since June.

The defeat was not too costly for London after Whitehaven beat second-placed Dewsbury 42-30 at the Tetley's Stadium to move to within a point of fourth-placed Workington.

Scott McAvoy and Craig Calvert each crossed twice for Whitehaven, while Dion Aiye, Steven Fox and Grant Gore chipped in with one apiece.

The Rams had taken an early 10-0 lead courtesy of Shane Grady's brace but they were left to reflect on a defeat despite further scores from Joel Farrell, Matthew Wildie, Karl Pryce and Dalton Grant.

That result allowed Featherstone to stretch their lead at the top of the table to three points after a 24-10 victory against Workington at Derwent Park.

Tries from Callum Phillips and Elliot Miller, either side of Alex Foster's score, gave Workington a 10-4 advantage at the break.

But Featherstone underlined their title credentials as they crossed three times in the second half through Will Sharp, Steve Snitch and Will Milner to secure their third straight win in the Super 8s.

Batley improved their chances of catching Workington by beating already-relegated Doncaster 38-20 at the Keepmoat Stadium.

The Bulldogs were forced to come from behind after tries from Liam Welham, Brett Waller and Ben Musolino had given Doncaster a 14-6 half-time lead.

Elliot Cosgrove had scored Batley's only first-half try but the visitors enjoyed much the better of the second period, with Wayne Reittie and Shaun Ainscough each crossing twice and Cain Southernwood and Shawn Squires scoring once.

Tom Hodson went over late on for Doncaster but they were left to reflect on their 25th defeat of the season.