Halifax put last year's Championship Grand Final defeat behind them quickly by opening the 2010 season with a 32-26 home victory over Sheffield Eagles. Unlike champions Barrow who were held 20-20 at Leigh thanks to Mick Nanyn's last-gasp try on Friday, Halifax were the ones to benefit from late drama. Sean Penkywicz's try won it after full-back Shad Royston's hat-trick earlier helped Halifax rally from 12-0 down. Sheffield had beaten Halifax in the Northern Rail Cup a month ago. But the Eagles failed to build on a bold start which saw them open up that early lead with tries by Craig Cook and Ashley Thackeray.

Two tries each by Jon Steel and Ian Hardman helped Featherstone Rovers to an impressive 36-10 victory over Batley Bulldogs at Bigfellas Stadium where the visitors were repeatedly thwarted by the home side's impressive defence. A long road journey took its toll on 2009 Championship One championsDewsbury Rams who were beaten 26-22 at Toulouse Olympique. The Rams had been forced to travel to the south of France by coach because of a wildcat strike by French air traffic controllers but led until six minutes from the end when Sebastien Planas stole in for the winning try.

The woes continued for Keighley at Widnes where, a week after learning they would start the season on minus nine points after going into administration last December, the Cougars were mauled 72-10. Centres Shane Grady, who amassed 30 points, and Dean Thompson both scored hat-tricks for the rampant Vikings, for whom nine different players grabbed tries in a one-sided match.

In Championship One, newly-formed South Wales Scorpions completed a stirring opening win with a 22-20 home success against Workington Town at The Gnoll. It took a late penalty from Lloyd White to secure victory for the Scorpions who had earlier raced into a 20-0 lead only to be rattled by a strong fightback from the Cumbrian visitors.

Centre Wayne McHugh contributed 16 points from a try and six goals in a 40-12 win for Hunslet Hawks against Gateshead Thunder, who were off the pace for much of a one-sided contest. A bad-tempered derby match at Swinton ended withOldham grabbing a 38-20 win. But not before both sides had been reduced to 12 men by the dismissal of Ian Watson and Wayne Kerr for fighting. The highlight for Oldham was a hat-trick of tries by winger Lucas Onyango.

Lee Waterman contributed 20 points in a 36-8 home win for York City Knights against London Skolars, who were undone by the centre's two tries and six goals from as many attempts. Rochdale Hornets brought their losing run to an end in style with a 56-24 victory overDoncaster, who never recovered after falling 30-0 behind in the first half. Rochdale, who had not won any of their Northern Rail Cup ties, ran in 11 tries, including two each for Dayne Donoghue and Dean Gorton.

Leigh and Barrow had got the 2010 Championship off to an exciting start on Friday with a dramatic 20-20 draw. The Centurions trailed 20-12 after the visitors struck with tries from Andy Ballard, Danny Halliwell and Chris Young early in the second half. But Stuart Donlan's second touchdown for the home side set up the dramatic finale at Leigh Sports Village. And Nanyn then kicked a last-gasp penalty to level the scores against the 2009 champions. Jamie Rooney had opened the scoring for Barrow with an early try, while Dave Alstead also got on the Centurions' scoresheet.