Salford storm past Batley into quarter-finals

Shaun McRae, Salford's head coach, hailed his side's "wonderful achievement" as they reached the last eight of the Challenge Cup with a 66-4 victory over Championship bottom club Batley.

McRae said: "We were particularly good in the first half. [Leading] 48-0 speaks for itself about the control that we had of the game. And second half you've got to give Batley a lot of credit – they fought really hard."

Sheffield Eagles did themselves proud as they had Hull KR hanging on until the last few minutes of an entertaining tie. A crowd of 4,955 saw the game swing backwards and forwards before the Super League side closed the game out 34-24.

It was mission achieved for Huddersfield after they eased past part-timers Rochdale Hornets. The Giants rested eight regulars but youngster Shaun Lunt scored a hat-trick of tries in a 38-12 win. Debutant Richie Mathers and Chris Hicks grabbed two tries apiece as Warrington beat Featherstone 56-8.

Championship club, Gateshead Thunder, who have never previously been past the fourth round, will face St Helens in the last eight after a 34-16 win over Oldham.

Brent Sherwin's drop goal from 40 metres out 55 seconds into extra-time sealed a 35-34 win for Castleford against Championship side Halifax. Wigan beat Wakefield 28-17 in the other tie on Saturday.