Workington 16 Batley Bulldogs 30: Batley bounce back impressively with captain Smith leading way

BATLEY Bulldogs had to plough their way through the mud for this victory at Derwent Park.
Byron SmithByron Smith
Byron Smith

A try between the posts in the last minute gave the Bulldogs the six points and took a bonus point away from the Cumbrian side.

It was something they probably deserved, responding well to their dismal showing at York when they were hammered 48-6.

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There were big performances from captain Byron Smith, hooker George Flanagan and loose-forward Liam Walmsley.

On two minutes,Tom Hemingway’s high ball to the corner saw Jason Welton take a good catch before passing to Ben Black, who scored easily. Hemingway landed the first of five successful conversions.

Workington drew level on their first serious attack when full-back Brett Carter somehow reached a kick through and touched down. Carter converted.

Batley lost full-back Miles Greenwood to the sin bin for a professional foul on 23 minutes, but were next to score.

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From close-in on Workington’s left, Alex Bretherton strolled past some weak tackling to score.

On 34 minutes, a delightful long pass from Hemingway, again in the left-hand corner, found winger Gareth Potts and he dotted down easily.

Workington dominated the third quarter and were close to scoring on several occasions.

Jason Mossop got over in the corner, but had not grounded the ball properly; Miller was only inches away from getting on the end of a kick through before it was knocked dead, and then Miller got over but was ruled to have placed a foot in touch.

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When James Coyle slipped through to score on 50 minutes and Carter converted it looked as though Workington would seriously trouble the Bulldogs.

But nine minutes later Walton’s strength saw him make the line from close in to give Batley more breathing space again.

Workington were not finished and on 65 minutes substitute Carl Forber threw out a pass for Miller to score an unconverted try.

After a committed display by Workington it came as a major let-down when they were denied a bonus point in the last attack of the game. The excellent Flanagan dived over between the posts and Hemingway’s conversion took them 14 points clear.

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Workington Town: Carter, Miller, Mossop, Connor, Hulme, Lupton, Coyle, Dowes, C Phillips, Coward, B Phillips, Shackley, Walne. Substitutes: Forber, Acton, Lawton, Gaskell.

Batley Bulldogs: Greenwood, Potts, Walton, Faal, Campbell, Black, Hemingway, Smith, Flanagan, Rowe, Bretherton, Davies, Walmsley. Substitutes: Whitmore, Hirst, Leary, Mullaly.

Referee: George Stokes (Wigan).

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