Batley Bulldogs 12 Sheffield Eagles 20: Moore injury piles on problems for Batley

The loss of points hit their hopes of moving further away from league neighbours Dewsbury and landing a top-six spot.

But, crucially, the loss of scrum-half and leading points scorer Gareth Moore with a suspected fractured collarbone added to their growing injury list and posed problems for future games including the Northern Rail Cup final in a fortnight's time.

The Eagles scored three unanswered tries in the first half moving smoothly and swiftly down Mount Pleasant for prop Ryan Hepworth, full-back Missi Taulapapa and scrum-half Matty Brooks to cross for touchdowns each of which were converted with ease by Tim Bergin.

Batley closed the gap in the second half as Tommy Gallagher took over the role of playmaker and enabled Sean Hesketh to burst his way through for a converted try.

Ten minutes later the Eagles were reduced to 12 men after a dangerous tackle from Menzie Yere and Batley took advantage as Mick Govin sent Alex Brown over in the corner.

It looked to be game on when Hesketh converted from the touchline but Batley knocked on from the restart and, within minutes, gave away a penalty in front of the posts for holding down. Bergin added the penalty goal to make victory safe.

Batley: Campbell; Brown, Griffin, Toohey, Greenwood; Govin, Moore; Smith, Lythe, Hesketh, Buttery, J Gallagher, Lindsay. Substitutes: Martin, T Gallagher, Toothill, Preece.

Sheffield: Taulapapa; Bergin, Yere, Mossop, Mills; Lindsay, Brooks; Hepworth, Cook, Stringer, Green, Szostak, Exton. Substitutes: Rowe, Corcoran, Haley, Hirst.

Referee: J Leahy (Dewsbury).