Match report from Luke Winner.
Batley began their home Betfred Championship campaign against Barrow Raiders in a rather cold 3rd round tie, securing a 32 – 12 win against the newly promoted side.
It was an instant start from the visitors as they were quick off the mark, stampeding through the Batley defence early on with Ryan Fieldhouse opening the scoring and Alec Susino following shortly after. Both tries converted by Jamie Dallimore. The Bulldogs couldn’t seem to find their feet at the start, unable to adapt to their opponent’s fast pace.
With Barrow losing the ball from the restart it provided the Bulldogs a chance to reaffirm their stance and from a penalty soon after Brad Day took advantage, dancing around multiple defenders to score. Walker converted. Batley 6 – 12 Barrow.
Batley’s defence held strong, managing just to keep the Raiders away from the line. Joe Chandler led the charge back up the slope, gaining some well-earned yards as Dane Manning grasped the ball taking it across the line after a succession of passes. Walker added the conversion.
Both teams were having a fair amount of possession with Matt Diskin’s side displaying some excellent ball play. From the back of a fierce offence, Brambani, on the last play, chipped over a beautiful kick to Wayne Reittie who finished the move, putting the Bulldogs ahead for the first time in the game.
HALF-TIME: Batley Bulldogs 16 – 12 Barrow Raiders.
This time it was Diskins’ side who started quicker, making up for their slow start in the first half.
Brad Day stormed his way through the Barrow defence from an excellent Tom Hemingway pass, running at least 40m to score a sensational try. Walker converted.
Barrow were now beginning to struggle with the fast Bulldogs play A sly backwards pass from James Brown allowed Dave Scott to duck the defenders to crash over. Walker added the extras.
Batley were on top now and a tough defensive line forced a goal-line-drop-out from which Dave Scott completed the scoring with his second of the day.
FULL-TIME: Batley Bulldogs 32: 12 Barrow Raiders
Overall a great performance by the Bulldogs, as they showed their physicality to hold off an inform Barrow Raiders team. Batley now look onto next week’s fixture, as Halifax RLFC are set to visit the Fox’s Biscuits Stadium in the next round of the Betfred Championship.
Batley Xlll – Dave Scott, Wayne Reittie, Danny Cowling, Jason Crookes, Shaun Ainscough, Patch Walker, Dominic Brambani, Adam Gledhill, Aliatair Leak, Alex Rowe, Dane Manning, Brad Day and Tom Holland.
Interchanges – Tom Hemmingway, Joe Chandler, Michael Ward and James Brown.
Barrow Raiders Xlll – Ryan Fieldhouse, Shane Toal, Jarrad Stack, Declan Hulme, Brett Carter, Jamie Dallimore, Karl Ashall, Ryan Duffy, Dean Parata, Alec Susino, Daniel Morrow, Bradd Crellin and Martin Aspinwall.
Interchanges – Nathan Mossop, Joesph Bullock, Thomas Walker and Glen Riley.