Rochdale Hornets 14 Batley Bulldogs 10: Batley suffer as Te’o grabs late Hornets try

Sam Te’o scored the only try of the second half as Hornets edged past the Bulldogs in a nail-biting encounter at Spotland Stadium.

Hornets went ahead 8-0 with tries from Michael Ratu and Paul Crook before Batley came back to take the lead at half-time with tries from Ben Blackmore and Miles Greenwood.

But Te’o scored the winning try and Hornets held out to condemn the Bulldogs to their second straight league defeat after they lost at home to Doncaster a fortnight ago.

It was a superb start by Rochdale and they made it show after 10 minutes when Ratu romped over the line. Crook could not add the extras.

Rochdale withstood some good Batley pressure before doubling their lead as Crook forced his way through.

Blackmore put the Bulldogs back in the hunt after a good move involving Sam Scott and Scott Leatherbarrow ended win an easy touchdown. Lee Paterson missed the conversion.

Greenwood’s jinking try ended in a converted try.

The second half was a tight affair but the Hornets took the lead eight minutes from time via Te’o. Crook converted.

Play was stopped 10 seconds from time as a Hornets man suffered an injury before completing one last tackle to secure the victory.

Rochdale: English, Langley, Llewellyn, Ratu, Te’o, Millard, Crook, Cookson, S. Casey, Thompson, Baines, Suffolk, J. Case. Substitutes: Marsh, Bowman, Davies, Sheridan.

Batley: Greenwood, Blackmore, Bretherton, Paterson, Finigan, Leek, Leatherbarrow, Smith, Blake, Gledhill, Davies, Scott, Chandler. Substitutes: Rowe, Nicholson, Brennan, Martin.

Referee: G Hewer (RFL).