BATLEY BULLDOGS 16 LONDON BRONCOS 30
IAN RIGG, Fox’s Biscuits Stadium, Saturday

LONDON got back to winning ways and consolidated tenth place with a hard-fought victory over Batley.

After a tough run of fixtures against Toulouse, York and Oldham – in which they performed admirably in the face of real injury difficulties – the Broncos found their stride against opponents who, like themselves, will have welcomed the decision for a merged Championship, sparing both a further fight against relegation.

For Batley, the previous week’s win at Hunslet remains the only success in eight under the control of John Kear, with trips to Toulouse and York to come before handing the coaching reins to James Ford.

London took the lead on ten minutes when Liam Tindall claimed a long pass to score on the left, where Jack Smith was unable to convert. 

Both sides then traded chances over the next few minutes before the Broncos went further ahead on 18 minutes when Connor O’Beirne shot through a gap to send Luke Polselli racing for the touchdown between the posts and this time Smith converted. 

Mike Eccles’ side then received a penalty on 26 minutes when they had a player hit late in back play. In the resulting set, Lewis Bienek went over on the left for an unconverted try.

More Broncos pressure was stretching the Bulldogs defence, but they held out well with the opposition coming down the slope to reach the break at 0-14 down.

Batley perhaps started the second half with the words of Kear ringing in their ears, because they scored their first points on 43 minutes when Joe Burton crashed over in the right corner. 

The Broncos went further ahead on 51 minutes when Tindall broke down the left to feed the supporting O’Beirne and Smith converted. 

Alistair Leak hit back virtually straight away with a try by the posts and Robbie Butterworth, after missing his first attempt, converted. 

Elliot Kear then pulled off a good tackle before Broncos went back up the slope and this time O’Beirne turned provider to set up Alex Walker to score.

The final London try came nine minutes from time when Tommy Porter went through several tackle attempts to score under the posts, and Smith was on target with the conversion. 

But it was Batley captain James Brown who scored the final try five minutes from time, converted in front of the posts by Butterworth.

GAMESTAR: Connor O’Beirne controlled all the Broncos attacks and scored one try.

GAMBREAKER: The three Broncos second half tries made the game secure.

MATCHFACTS
BULLDOGS
6 Elliot Kear
2 Joe Burton
12 Lucas Walshaw
3 Ollie Greensmith
19 Jack Render
1 Robbie Butterworth
6 Ben White
8 Adam Gledhill
14 Brandon Moore
13 James Brown
15 Nyle Flynn
11 Dane Manning
17 Luke Blake
Subs (all used)
9 Alistair Leak
– Ellis Lingard
35 Jack Billington
31 Noah High

Tries: Burton (43), Leak (54), Brown (75)
Goals: Butterworth 2/3

BRONCOS
1 Alex Walker
33 Jack Smith
30 Ted Davidson
2 Chris Hellec
5 Liam Tindall
6 Luke Polselli
7 Connor O’Beirne
10 Lewis Bienik
9 Curtis Davies
14 Kobe Rugless
19 Lukas Mason
3 Ethan Natolii
13 Marcus Stock
Subs
34 Tommy Porter
4 Brandon Webster-Mansfield (not used)
17 Jenson Monk
8 Huw Worthington

Tries: Tindall (10), Polselli (18), Bienek (26), O’Beirne (51), Walker (68), Porter (71)
Goals: Smith 3/6

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Bulldogs: James Brown; Broncos: Connor O’Beirne

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-4, 0-10, 0-14; 4-14, 4-20, 10-20, 10-24, 10-30, 16-30

Penalty count: 4-3
Half-time: 0-14
Referee: Aaryn Belafonte
Attendance: 1,160