BRADFORD BULLS 32 BATLEY BULLDOGS 6
ROB WALLACE, Bartercard Odsal, Friday
GUY ARMITAGE piled the misery on Batley by scoring a hat-trick of tries as Bradford proved too strong for a spirited Bulldogs outfit.
In truth, there should have been a wider winning margin than 26 points, but for excellent Batley defence and poor execution from the Bulls.
Batley arrived having seen coach Mark Moxon depart midweek following last Sunday’s 50-12 defeat to Doncaster, but the Bulls were not in a sympathetic mood as they celebrated Joe Keyes’ 200th appearance in a baptism of fire for the Bulldogs’ interim coaches Jaymes Chapman and Ben Kaye.
The Batley coaching duo rang in five changes from Sunday’s defeat, including a debut for loanee Jacob Bateman from Bradford themselves, while the Bulls made only three with Tom Holmes, Tyran Ott and Ebon Scurr all coming into the starting 13.
Bradford started the brighter of the two sides, attacking on the back of two penalties and a goal-line drop-out, but the Batley defence stood firm and held out the home side.
The Bulls looked like they had opened the scoring after good work by Jordan Lilley and Zac Fulton set Holmes away, only for the play to be pulled back for a forward pass.
Pressure eventually told on the Batley defence as Bradford attacked down the left edge and the ball found Matty Gee who ran a great line and raced over to score under the posts. Lilley converted to give the Bulls a six-point advantage.
Batley bounced back five minutes later, when a smart break down the right edge from Bateman found the supporting Robbie Butterworth. Woods added the conversion to level the scores.
A break by Joe Keyes set up the field position for the Bulls to send the ball to the left, Gee and Konrad Hurrell combining to send Armitage over in the corner. Lilley added the goal to give the Bulls a 12-6 lead.
As the hooter was ready to sound, it was Keyes again who took the ball to the heart of the Batley defence before throwing a smart pass that missed Hurrell and found Armitage who crashed over to score. Lilley again converted to give the Bulls a twelve-point lead at the break.
Five minutes after the break, Lilley extended that further with a penalty from in front of the posts.
Once again, Batley responded, Brandon Moore going close and being held up before Ollie Greensmith was held up just short by a resolute Bradford defence.
Keyes was once again the provider for Armitage twelve minutes from time as a wide ball found the winger 15 metres out to race over in the left corner. Lilley remained perfect with the boot as the Bulls extended their lead to 20 points.
With three minutes remaining on the clock, Tom Holmes picked off a pass 20 metres out, scooted across the Batley line and danced down the touchline to score in the left corner. Lilley added the touchline conversion to take the final score to 32-6.
GAMESTAR: Both Bradford halfbacks played their part, but Joe Keyes stepped up for the Bulls when they needed him and created a host of tries that eventually broke the Batley spirit.
GAMEBREAKER: Guy Armitage’s hat-trick score eventually put the Bulls out of sight and created a 20-point advantage.
MATCHFACTS
BULLS
1 Tom Holmes
37 Jayden Okunbor
3 Waqa Blake
28 Konrad Hurrell
5 Guy Armitage
9 Jordan Lilley
7 Joe Keyes
8 Michael Lawrence
19 Tyran Ott
10 Ebon Scurr
11 Zac Fulton
12 Matty Gee
18 Sam Hallas
Subs (all used)
15 Logan Bayliss-Brow
20 Ronan Michael
21 Emmanuel Waine
22 Eliot Peposhi
Tries: Gee (21), Armitage (34, 40, 68), Holmes (77)
Goals: Lilley 6/6
BULLDOGS
1 Robbie Butterworth
19 Jack Render
2 Joe Burton
3 Oliver Greensmith
26 Alfie Dean
6 Ben White
7 Josh Woods
10 Luke Cooper
25 Brandon Moore
13 James Brown
11 Dane Manning
12 Lucas Walshaw
17 Luke Blake
Subs (all used)
22 Luca Atkinson
33 Jacob Bateman
15 Nyle Flynn
23 Jonah Parsons
Tries: Butterworth (26)
Goals: Woods 1/1
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 6-6, 12-6, 18-6; 20-6, 26-6, 32-6
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Bulls: Joe Keyes; Bulldogs: James Brown
Penalty count: 8-5
Half-time: 18-6
Referee: Kevin Moore
Attendance: 3,131