Batley Bulldogs cemented their place in the middle eight’s with an emphatic victory over the Lions who themselves were trying to finish as high as they could to gain a reasonable draw in the championship eight’s. Bulldogs coach John Kear was a happy man “We played some really good stuff today against a good attacking side and we were very near perfect and that is very pleasing to see”.
The Lions took the lead in the fifth minute when a good passing movement and a Chris Atkin break sent Shaun Robinson in at the right corner and Atkin added the touchline conversion. Bulldogs levelled on ten minutes when Alistair Leek went over by the post after Keegan Hirst had gone close and Pat Walker converted and it got even better for the visitors who had brought a large following with them when firstly good passing saw Chris Ulugia go over on the left and two minutes Wayne Reittie latched onto a Dom Brambani kick to score and Walker converted one of them.
The Lions were placed on a team warning on seventeen minutes because of all the penalties they were giving away and a minute later Andy Thornley was sin binned for holding down and Walker kicked a simple penalty goal. Reittie forced a goal line drop out on twenty minutes and from this pressure Leek went over for his second try and Walker converted. The home side then had a couple of chances but the final pass went to ground and the Bulldogs went further ahead when Shaun Squires scored from another Brambani kick through but Walker missed the conversion. The Lions did hit back with a second try four minutes from the break when Josh Barlow crashed over by the posts and Atkin converted but the Bulldogs were well ahead at the break.
It got better at the start of the second half when Ulugia scored his second after a Lions handing error and again the conversion was true and four minutes later they were in again when another Lions error saw Brad Day score by the posts and Walker again made no mistake. Dave Scott made an error fielding the ball in goal on fifty minutes and the goal line drop out was awarded but from this the ball went to ground again and Scott it was who swept it up and put his team on the attack which ended with former Lion James Brown scoring in the right corner but the conversion was missed.
The Lions came back again on sixty-four minutes when Connor Dwyer started a move which ended with Ben White breaking through to feed Thornley who went in for the try and Atkin converted again. Barlow was sent to the sin bin for an alleged punch on Brambani and a couple of minutes later Shaun Ainscough finished off a move on the left and the conversion was again good but Swinton came back again when Atkin broke to feed Matty Beharrell who scored by the posts and Atkin again converted.
The Bulldogs finished the game with two more tries in the final five minutes when Ainscough and Brambani both scored and Walker added another conversionas the hooter sounded.
Teams :
Lions :-
1 Chris Atkin
2 Shaun Robinson
3 Stuart Littler
4 Macauley Hallett
18 Tommi Hughes
6 Ben White
7 Matty Beharrell
13 Rob Lever
24 Luke Waterworth
10 Jordan Hand
11 Connor Dwyer
23 Rhodri Lloyd
12 Andy Thornley
Subs : (All Used)
16 Ben Austin
21 Andy Bracek
19 Josh Barlow
28 Zach Johnson
Tries: Robinson (5), Barlow (36), Thornley (64), Beharrell (73)
Goals: Atkin 4/4
Sin Bin: Thornley (18) Holding Down
Barlow (66) Alleged punching
Bulldogs :–
22 Dave Scott
2 Wayne Reittie
4 Shaun Squires
3 Chris Ulugia
5 Shaun Ainscough
13 Pat Walker
7 Dom Brambani
8 Keegan Hirst
20 Alistair Leek
10 Alex Rowe
11 Brad Day
19 Alex Bretherton
15 Adam Gledhill
Subs (All Used)
14 James Davey
18 Tom Lillycrop
21 James Brown
24 James Harrison
Tries: Leek (10,22), Ulugia (13,42), Reittie (15), Squires (32)
Day (46), Brown (54), Ainscough (68,75), Brambani (80)
Goals: Walker 9/12
Prog Score: 6-0,6-6,6-10,6-16,6-18,6-24,6-30,12-30,12-36,12-42,12-46,18-46,18-52,24-52,24-56,24-62.
Referee: Scott Mikalauskas
Att: 1147
Pens: 5-11
H-T: 12-30
Men of Match
Lions: Matty Beharrell
Bulldogs: Dom Brambani
Gamebreaker: Bulldogs four tries in a twelve minute period in the first half took the game away from the Lions despite the good start.
Gamestar: The whole Batley Team – This was a near perfect performance
