Eagles’ defence holds out to deny Bulldogs

The Bulldogs dominated the second half but the damage was done in the first 40 minutes as Sheffield showed their attacking flair in scoring four tries.

The Eagles forced two early dropouts before James Davey provided the pass from dummy half for Dominic Brambani to go over.

Batley also capitalised on a dropout with Scott Leatherbarrow and Shaun Ainscough sending in Wayne Reitte near the corner.

The reply was swift with Menzie Yere going in wide out on the left with Walker kicking both the Eagles goals.

Former Eagles prop Alex Rowe was held on the line but Alistair Leak went low from dummy half and Leatherbarrow added the goal.

Yere stretched Sheffield’s lead finishing a cross-field move and in the final minute Rob Worrincy’s first try since rejoining the club gave a 20-10 lead.

Batley turned up the pressure from the restart with Cain Southernwood held up over the line before James Brown was first to a loose ball. Leatherbarrow added the goal to cut the margin to four points.

With four minutes to go a Walker penalty eased the pressure. In the final seconds, Quentin Laulu-Togagae swapped passes with Yere before crossing and Walker added the goal.

Sheffield: Laulu-Togagae; Turner, Yere, Smeaton, Taulapapa; Briggs, Brambani; Battye, Davey, Thorpe, Davies, Straugheir, Walker. Substitutes: Aston, Tonks, Worrincy, Tagaloa.

Batley: Grayston; Reittie, Ainscough, Squires, Campbell; Southerwood, Leatherbarrow; Lillycrop, Leak, Rowe, Scott, Mitchell, Chandler. Substitutes: Hurst, Nicholson, Hesketh, Brown.

Referee: C Kendall (RFL).