Batley Bulldogs 45 Hunslet Hawks 28: Batley win but Kear sees much to work on

After a slow start from both sides, it was Hunslet who eventually broke the deadlock through Callum Casey on 15 minutes.

But tries from Alex Brown and Luke Blake saw the game swing in Batley’s favour before Jack Lee and Jimmy Watson responded, leaving the visitors 18-10 up after half an hour.

However, Batley stormed back, scoring unanswered tries either side of half-time, Sean Hesketh, Tom Lillycrop, Brown and Shaun Squires helping the hosts to a 38-18 lead after 58 minutes.

Andy Yates and Lee got over for Hunslet as they looked for a glimmer of hope in the closing stages, but it was not enough as Joe Chandler’s try before a Scott Leatherbarrow drop goal helped seal the points for the Bulldogs, who move up to ninth, while Hunslet sit two points adrift in the bottom two.

Batley head coach John Kear said: “If you’d have offered me a 17-point win before the game I would have been happy with that.

“We earned that victory in the first half and scored some good tries up the hill, but I thought we were sloppy in some areas.

“Our goal line defence was absolutely terrible. There were three really soft tries which aren’t acceptable at this level and some of our ball handling wasn’t the best either, so there’s plenty of work to do in training.”

Batley: Campbell; Reittie, Ainscough, Squires, Brown; Southernwood, Leatherbarrow; Hirst, Blake, Rowe; Day, Scott, Chandler. Substitutes: Nicholson, Hesketh, Lillycrop, Brown.

Hunslet: Watson, Agoro, Maun, Gee, Barnett; Brown, Kain; Yates, Lee, Haley; Casey, Mackay, Mulhern. Substitutes: Flanagan, Castle, Grimshaw, Trout.

Referee: Chris Kendall.