Whitehaven 26, Batley Bulldogs 34

Batley Bulldogs added to Whitehaven’s Northern Rail misery when they won 34-26 at the Recreation Ground.

Beaten by a point at Keighley last Sunday, Haven now need to beat Doncaster and Workington Town in their final two pool games to stand a chance of qualifying.

The Bulldogs had led 24-18 at the break and after a tight second half, watched by a crowd of 888, the west Cumbrians finally drew level with nine minutes to go.

But the Bulldogs dug deep and a 76th minute try from Paul Handforth, converted by Gareth Moore, plus a Moore penalty two minutes from time saw them secure victory.

The result means Batley remain unbeaten after two games in Pool One of the Northern Rail Cup and stand in third place on five points. They trail Widnes on points difference and both teams are a point behind leaders Keighley Cougars.

But after being angrier than at any other time in his Cumbrian coaching career on Sunday, Whitehaven boss Ged Stokes was in a more reflective and philosophical mood afterwards.

He said: “We went really well. We had a lot of things go against us but we still came out really positive. I was very happy with our performance.

“We probably did enough to win the game but it wasn’t to be. We should be pretty high going into Sunday’s game. By the time the Co-operative Championship season starts I think we’ll be going OK.

“The main thing that did concern me against Batley was the high penalty count against us. I don’t know why we cop it more than other teams.”

It had looked plain sailing early on when scrum-half Dylan Skee slipped through a static Batley defence after only three minutes to score the first try which Carl Rudd converted.

But the Bulldogs hit back after only eight minutes when speedy full-back Johnny Campbell gathered a neat inside pass from Paul Handforth and went in for the try which Gareth Moore converted.

Scrum-half Moore went on to kick seven goals against only three from Rudd and the eight points made the difference in the final countdown.

When Craig Calvert made a mess of a kick through Whitehaven were made to pay as Handforth slipped through to score the second try.

Then Whitehaven came back through Skee, who was one of their top performers on the night, and he put in Andy Thornley for the try.

It was an end-to-end affair and Batley got back ion front when the outstanding Moore swooped to score after gathering a cross-field kick. Then it was Handforth who charged through some poor Whitehaven tackling  to put Campbell over for his second.

Skee turned provider again for Whitehaven when he set-up centre Rob Jackson but Batley took the score out to 24-18 at the break through a Moore penalty after Carl Sice had been penalised for a high tackle.

Whitehaven held-off some early Bulldogs pressure in the second-half and clawed their way closer when Rudd put Derry Eilbeck steaming away to score in the corner when he latched onto a perfect kick through.

Moore responded with a penalty for Batley but Whitehaven drew level nine minutes from time when Jackson grabbed his second try with the final pass again coming from Skee.

In a big finish Batley clinched the win, however, and over the 80 minutes deserved their victory.

Handforth dispossessed Sice as he attempted to gather-in a kick and scored the try which Moore converted.
Moore’s seventh goal from a penalty for interference wrapped-up the Bulldogs win.

Haven: Benson, Eilbeck, R. Fox, R. Jackson, Calvert, Rudd, Skee, M. Jackson, Mattinson, Hill, S. Miller, D. Miller, Thornley. Subs (all used) Sice, Farrer, Barker, Amor.
Referee: R. Hicks
Crowd: 888

MAL WALKER was our man at the Recreation Ground and he took the action shots above.

Mal's prints can can be bought at £25 for an A4 framed and £40 for an A3 framed. Prints only are £10 A4 and £15 A3. 

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