BATLEY BULLDOGS 12 DONCASTER 16
KEITH McGHIE, Fox’s Biscuits Stadium, Sunday

DONCASTER continued their recent domination of games between these two sides with a late winning try from Watson Boas which was largely against the run of play at that stage.

A rather toothless Batley had battled back from twelve points down to be level when a field-goal attempt by Josh Woods was charged down then hacked down the slope for Papua New Guinean halfback Boas to eventually touch down and snatch two points.

For more than an hour it looked nailed on that the Dons would claim a sixth successive success against their hosts through a controlled display which offered the Bulldogs few chances, while they notched two tries and two penalty-goals.

But the reintroduction of Batley hooker and captain Alistair Leak helped significantly change the direction of play as he engineered two converted home tries tries which levelled matters with seven minutes still to play.

Batley, who haven’t beaten Doncaster since 2015, took more than an hour to truly trouble their opponents on a pitch which held up remarkably well considering the freezing temperatures and rain it has been subjected to this year.

Batley gave a debut to new signing Derrell Olpherts alongside returning Oliver Greensmith, with Kieran Brining and Jack Hudson making way.

Doncaster made two changes with Reece Lyne and Cory Aston dropping out and Brad Hey and Boas coming in.

Helped up the slope by three early penalties, the visitors made all the early running. 

And it was little surprise when a Luke Briscoe kick was successfully chased and touched down by Luis Johnson, with Connor Robinson, on his 100th club appearance, unlucky to strike a post with his touchline conversion attempt.

More than 15 minutes passed before Batley had the ball in hand in their opponents’ half.

Speed around the ruck area aided Doncaster’s repeated ventures deep into Batley territory, while well-drilled defence frustrated and blunted home attacking efforts.

A Tom Holmes break and kick ahead caused concern in the Batley ranks as a chasing-back defender’s effort to slam the ball dead struck the bottom of an upright.

When Richard Horne’s Dons were gifted a penalty 35 metres out, just before the half-time hooter, Robinson had no hesitation in taking the two.

An he stretched the lead to 8-0 when Batley were caught offside in front of their own posts shortly after the restart.

As the men in blue continued to press, James Glover rose to collect and touch down another precision Robinson kick.

But in the 64th minute, Batley created the best try of the game when Leak and Ben Reynolds combined incisively to send Ben White racing between the sticks, with Reynolds, despite taking a knock, converting.

Leak’s return to the action after the interval appeared to give Batley extra impetus, and when he sent a charging Liam Kirk try-bound, again between the posts, Reynolds’ second conversion made it 12-12.

But Woods’ attempted one-pointer was thwarted by Brad Knowles and kicked downfield by Holmes for Boas to seal the deal for Doncaster.

GAMESTAR: Doncaster scrum-half Connor Robinson. Despite only landing two goals in five attempts, his control and positional kicking was crucial.

GAMEBREAKER: Doncaster forward Brad Knowles’ vital charge down of Josh Woods’ attempted field-goal, and Watson’s Boas’ subsequent clinching score.

MATCHFACTS

BULLDOGS
6 Ben Reynolds
2 Joe Burton
33 Will Oakes
25 Oliver Greensmith
25 Derrell Olpherts
14 Ben White
7 Josh Woods
17 Liam Kirk
9 Alistair Leak
13 Robson Stevens
11 Dane Manning
12 Lucas Walshaw
13 Evan Hodgson
Subs (all used)
19 Jonah Parsons
10 Luke Cooper
24 Akim Matvejev
16 Nyle Flynn

Tries: White (64), Kirk (73)
Goals: Reynolds 2/2

DONCASTER
1 Tom Holmes
5 Luke Briscoe
3 Brad Hey
23 James Glover
18 Edene Gebbie
24 Watson Boas
7 Connor Robinson
8 Brad Knowles
9 Greg Burns
16 Pauli Pauli
12 Alex Sutcliffe
22 Luis Johnson
17 Muizz Mustapha
Subs (all used)
21 Tyla Hepi
19 Connor Jones
10 Suaia Matagi
25 Gadwin Springer

Tries: Johnson (12), Glover (52), Boas (79)
Goals: Robinson 2/5

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-4, 0-6; 0-8, 0-12, 6-12, 12-12, 12-16

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Man of the Match
Bulldogs: Alistair Leak; Doncaster: Connor Robinson

Penalty count: 5-7
Half-time: 0-6
Referee: Tara Jones