Kells hit the top of the NCL Division One with another 50-point win against a Stanningley side who had started the season well.
The Whitehaven side are ahead of Hull Dockers and Wigan St. Patrick’s (their sole conquerors so far) on points differential but they have a game in hand on them.
Returning head coach Peter Smith said: “It was a good win but an even better team performance. They scored first and were causing problems through their lively hooker but we sorted that out and by half-time were 22-6 ahead.
“We have scored 254 points now in our six games and that’s over fifty more than our two nearest rivals who have played a game more.
“It’s been a good start to the season but we have to keep it up and be consistent. There’s a tough game coming up at home to Skirlaugh on Saturday as they are always competitive.”
Skirlaugh have won four from six to be two points behind Kells but on Saturday they were beaten 28-24 at home by Ince Rose Bridge, who have already lost heavily at home to the Cumbrians.
Smith’s side saw off Stanningley 50-12 after Dan Barcoe had given the visitors an early lead with a try converted by Ben Selby.
Kells built their half-time lead with the help of a hat-trick of tries from Lewis Smith and one touchdown from James Ennis. Ross Gainford kicked three goals.
Mason Lewthwaite’s try, converted by Gainford, stretched Kells’ lead soon after the resumption and although Sam Savage went over for the visitors, and Selby converted, the rest of the scoring was done by Kells.
Aaron Burns (2), Jordan Burns and David Lowery scored further tries with three converted by Gainford.
In the Premier Division, there was disappointment for the west Cumbrian pair of Wath Brow and Egremont.
The Hornets lost the league leadership when they went down 13-4 at Pilkington Recs while the Rangers were beaten at home 20-16 by Leigh Miners Rangers.
It was a major disappointment for Wath Brow as they had led 4-0 against a side who had started the day third bottom. Ellison Holgate had scored the only points of the first half with a 28th-minute try.
Pilkington put in an outstanding second half, defending manfully to deny Wath Brow a single point, and they were able to fashion two tries for themselves through Andy Morris and Owain Abel.
In the closing stages, Abel dropped a goal and Kyran Knapper added a penalty to a previous conversion.
Barrow Island returned to winnings ways in Division Two with a hard-fought 24-18 win over Wigan St. Jude’s.
The Islanders had been 18-0 adrift at half-time but fought back superbly and a try by Adam Ford, five minutes from time, converted by Adam Jackson sealed the win.
They had got back on terms with just nine minutes left through tries by Max Anderson-Moore, Ben Garner and Carl McBain, all converted by Jackson.
In the Third Division, Seaton Rangers picked up a very good 24-12 win at Batley Boys to move fifth with a match in hand of all four sides ahead of them.
It had been a hard-fought first-half which Seaton just edged with a try from Jon Carl Bryan which Dominic Smallwood converted.
Although the hosts quickly drew level on the resumption they didn’t score again until the last minute, by which time Seaton were home and hosed.
Former Glasson Rangers recruit Gary Taylor helped himself to a brace of tries and was joined on the score-sheet by Luke Crossman. Smallwood converted all three.
Hensingham, however, continue to struggle next to bottom although again there wasn’t much in the margin of defeat.
They went down 32-24 at Leigh East after turning things around following a poor start. They had gone 10-0 down in as many minutes before coming back to lead 16-10 with tries from Travis Scott, Logan Holgate and Scott, plus two conversions from Noel Branthwaite.
But having established a firm foothold in the game it crumbled beneath them as Easts got in front 20-16 by half-time and two more converted tries in the second half pulled them clear.
Hensingham still fought hard to get back in the contest and before the end there were tries from Holgate and Callum Morgan.
Millom were on the receiving end at Shaw Cross Sharks where they were beaten 56-22.
The Woollybacks were still very much in the contest at half-time, trailing 20-16 but they were heavily outscored in the second period.
Jonty Peters (2), Rio McQuiston and Kian McPherson scored the Millom tries with Jack Newbegin converting three.
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