The Qualifiers: London Broncos beat Halifax to book Million Pound Game place
- Published
Jarrod Sammut scored 11 of London Broncos' 23 points, starting with the first try
Super 8s |
|---|
London Broncos (12) 23 |
Tries: Sammut, Pelissier, Dixon, Kear Goals: Sammut 3 Drop goal: Sammut |
Halifax (16) 16 |
Tries: Kaye, Tyrer, Tangata Goals: Tyrer 2 |
London Broncos had to come from 12-0 down to beat Halifax, the bottom club in The Qualifiers, and book their place in next Sunday's Million Pound Game.
The Broncos began the night looking for the 15-point win that would have secured fourth - and home advantage next week - but also knew a heavy defeat could let in Toulouse.
In the end, they had to settle for just winning the match - and fifth place.
They will now travel to either Toronto or Hull KR next weekend.
As it stands, Toronto are third in The Qualifiers and will be promoted to Super League.
But should Rovers beat Widnes by 13 points or more at Craven Park on Sunday, they would climb a place from fourth and secure their Super League spot for next season. That would force Toronto in that Million Pound meeting of fourth and fifth, and a Sunday excursion for the Broncos to Ontario.
Betfred Qualifiers table - as of 29/09/2018 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Position | Team | P | W | D | L | Pts diff | Pts |
1 | Salford Red Devils | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 143 | 10 |
2 | Leeds Rhinos | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 79 | 10 |
3 | Toronto Wolfpack | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 10 |
4 | Hull KR | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 |
5 | London Broncos | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 8 |
6 | Toulouse | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | -34 | 6 |
Broncos, who lost their Super League place in 2014, looked a long way from a return when Halifax scored two tries inside the opening quarter.
The only team without a win in The Qualifiers, Fax made a fantastic start as Steve Tyrer converted both his own try, from captain Scott Murrell's chip, and the opener from Ben Kaye.
But an impressive kicking display from Jarrod Sammut helped the Londoners gain the initiative - and they levelled with two tries in just three minutes.
The Australia-born Malta international took the ball out of the scrum and leapt through a tight gap to reduce the deficit before Frenchman Eloi Pelissier drew Broncos level when he went in under the posts from dummy half.
Fax did not wilt, crossing for a third time when Adam Tangata powered his way down the right touchline to earn a shock half-time lead.
But Kieran Dixon, from Sammut's inch-perfect high kick, and Elliot Kear got the all-important second-half tries as Fax, who had not recorded a victory in the capital since 2003, faded late on.
After Kear's try and Brandon Moore's yellow card for the visitors, Sammut then wrapped up victory with a last-second drop goal.
London Broncos: Walker; Dixon, Hellewell, Kear, Williams; Pitts, Sammut; Evans, Pelissier, Ioane, Hindmarsh, Gee, Battye.
Interchange: Spencer, Lovell, Adebiyi, Davies.
Halifax: Woodburn-Hall; Moss, Tyrer, Heaton, Sharp; Murrell, Johnston; Fleming, Kaye, Fairbank, Tangata, Butler, Moore, C Davies.
Interchange: Kaye, Cooper, Douglas, Tangata.
Sin bin: Moore.