BATLEY BULLDOGS 16 HALIFAX PANTHERS 18
JACOB KILBRIDE, Fox’s Biscuits Stadium, Sunday
HALIFAX returned to the play-off zone via a dramatic late come-from-behind victory sealed by Adam Tangata’s try.
The Panthers were trailing 16-6 heading into the final 15 minutes, but rallied to score three tries to edge out Batley in a tight and nervy battle amid torrential rain.
Following a seven-match winless streak, Halifax have now recorded back-to-back victories for the first time since April to cement their place back in the top six.
The Bulldogs’ faint hopes of escaping the bottom four were dealt another blow and an especially hurtful one having built such a strong position.
It was Batley who struck first when Josh Woods knocked over a 30-metre penalty-goal.
The wet conditions negated much free-flowing or expansive play, Halifax twice making errors when attempting to spread the play to their left flank, first through James Saltonstall then Dayon Sambou.
The visitors were clinical though when gifted their first set in good ball, thanks to a high tackle by Adam Gledhill on David Nofoaluma.
A classy Louis Jouffret cut-out pass found Ben Crooks on the right edge, allowing the captain to put the diving Charlie Graham over in the corner, with Jouffret converting.
Batley reclaimed the lead on the half-hour mark. Having forced Zack McComb into an error on his 20, from the resultant set, there was the rather unfamiliar dummy-half presence of towering centre Lucas Walshaw, who barged over from close range. Woods added the two.
With a couple of minutes to go, a Woods kick caused havoc for Halifax’s backline and when they were caught offside from the following scrum, the hosts once more chose to go for goal, Woods making it 10-6.
The halfback lost his way kicking-wise after the restart though, twice hoisting the ball out on the full in the space of three minutes. However all Halifax could produce was a Tom Inman knock-on in front of the sticks.
On 53 minutes, a costly handling error from Halifax interchange Maxime Jobe allowed Batley to work an overlap from which Robbie Butterworth touched down. Woods landed the tricky touchline conversion.
With a quarter of an hour to go, a Dane Manning knock-on deep in Batley territory opened the door for Saltonstall to finish a tidy scrum set-play in the left corner.
Nofoaluma then copped a late shot from Manning, providing the platform for Jouffret to once more fire a cut-out pass into Crooks’ hands and Graham was given a simple finish.
Jouffret failed to convert either score, leaving Batley two points ahead with just four minutes left, but the Frenchman made amends when standing up a contested kick which Aidan McGowan dropped.
Tangata was on hand to keep his composure close to the line, slaloming his way over for the decisive score.
GAMESTAR: Brandon Douglas. While Louis Jouffret had a hand in each of the four Halifax tries, the industry and defensive ruggedness of Douglas in the middle was vital in such a gritty and hard-fought contest.
GAMEBREAKER: Adam Tangata kept his cool in the midst of the scramble to take advantage of Batley’s late error.
MATCHFACTS
BULLDOGS
34 Aidan McGowan
1 Robbie Butterworth
3 Ollie Greensmith
12 Lucas Walshaw
2 Joe Burton
6 Ben White
7 Josh Woods
17 Adam Gledhill
14 Brandon Moore
10 Luke Cooper
32 Jacob Bateman
11 Dane Manning
17 Luke Blake
Subs (all used)
9 Alistair Leak
15 Nyle Flynn
24 Paul Foulstone
31 Noah High
Tries: Walshaw (30), Butterworth (53)
Goals: Woods 4/4
PANTHERS
23 David Nofoaluma
3 Charlie Graham
4 Ben Crooks
30 Dayon Sambou
5 James Saltonstall
1 Louis Jouffret
6 James Woodburn-Hall
8 Brandon Douglas
34 Vila Halafihi
16 Ronan Dixon
19 Zack McComb
12 Adam Tangata
14 Tom Inman
Subs (all used)
9 Adam O’Brien
13 Jacob Fairbank
22 Maxime Jobe
33 Leon Cowen
Tries: Graham (19, 72), Saltonstall (66), Tangata (76)
Goals: Jouffret 1/4
SCORING SEQUENCE: 2-0, 2-6, 8-6, 10-6; 16-6, 16-10, 16-14, 16-18
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Bulldogs: Lucas Walshaw; Panthers: Brandon Douglas
Penalty count: 6-4
Half-time: 10-6
Referee: Scott Mikalauskas