Batley 24-12 Barrow: Bulldogs win in Monday night Rugby League

Drew Darbyshire
Craig Lingard Batley Bulldogs SWpix

Photo: Ed Sykes/SWpix

Following a 24-12 win for Batley against Barrow in Monday night Rugby League, here are our three takeaways from the televised clash.

Craig Lingard’s Bulldogs took an 8-0 lead in to the half-time interval thanks to a try from Josh Hodson and two goals from James Meadows.

Samy Kibula, Meadows and Dale Morton posted further tries in the second half to extend Batley’s lead to 24-0.

Barrow scored consolation tries late on through Greg Burke and Jarrod Sammut, but the Bulldogs were in control throughout as they finished 24-12 winners in Dewsbury.

Magic Meadows

It probably would have been a 10 out of 10 performance from Meadows if he didn’t spend 10 minutes in the sin bin in the first half.

Meadows was superb all night for the Bulldogs and everything Batley did in attack went through him.

The former London Broncos playmaker came up with a couple of clutch plays for Batley, which helped Lingard’s side secure the two points.

Barrow remain winless

The Raiders are the only team in the Championship that are yet to win a game so far this season.

It has been a surprising start from Barrow, given how well Paul Crarey’s side went last year, where they finished fourth and secured a spot in the play-offs.

There’s no doubt that the Raiders have got the talent to perform at the higher end of the Championship, but they’ve got to start picking up points sooner rather than later.

Venue change

The match was scheduled to be held at Batley’s Mount Pleasant, but it was stitched to neighbours Dewsbury in the afternoon on matchday due to floodlight issues at Batley’s home ground.

The decision to switch venue was only made at lunch time, though there is only 2.5 miles between Batley’s ground and their derby rivals Dewsbury.

It obviously wouldn’t have been ideal preparation for both clubs, but it was a good effort from everyone involved to make sure the game still went ahead.

The conditions limited how much the ball was thrown around, but it was a good old arm wrestle in the Championship.

How it happened

  • 7′ Josh Hodson opens the scoring for Batley. James Meadows converts. (6-0)
  • 21′ Batley half-back Meadows was sent to the sin bin.
  • 32′ Meadows slots a penalty goal for Batley after Barrow were penalised for dissent. (8-0)
  • HALF TIME: Batley 8-0 Barrow
  • 41′ Batley forward Samy Kibula steals the ball from Ellis Gillam to score under the sticks. Meadows converts. (14-0)
  • 54′ Meadows goes over after Barrow spill a high ball. Meadows converts his own try. (20-0)
  • 69′ Dale Morton puts the game out of reach for Barrow as he goes over in the corner. (24-0)
  • 74′ Greg Burke pulls one back for Barrow. Ryan Shaw converts. (24-6)
  • 79′ Jarrod Sammut scores a consolation try for the Raiders. Shaw converts. (24-12)
  • FULL TIME: Batley 24-12 Barrow

How they lined up

Batley: McGowan; Morton, Hodson, Buchanan, Kear; Meadows, White; Lillycrop, Leak, Brown, Manning, Walshaw, Reilly. Subs: Campbell, Kibula, Flynn, Ward. 18th man: Hirst.

Tries: Hodson, Kibula, Meadows, Morton Goals: Meadows 4

Barrow: Cresswell; Bulman, Broadbent, Shaw, Toal; Sammut, Carter; Burke, Wood, Iaria, Langtree, Stack, Wells. Subs: Dawson, Gillam, Brooks, Evans. 18th man: Emslie.

Tries: Burke, Sammut Goals: Shaw 2

What they said

Batley coach Craig Lingard said: “I thought for the 75 minutes I was delighted with the way they applied themselves, with changing ground and conditions were difficult but I thought we handled it pretty well.

“We were pretty dominant in the first 75 minutes but I’m pretty filthy to concede two sloppy tries at the end. I don’t think the scoreline reflects how dominant we were in that first 75 minutes so I’m just disappointed with that last five minutes.”

Barrow coach Paul Crarey said: “We didn’t give ourselves a chance. I think we had 56 per cent completion. We had six individual errors in the first set and the ball steal straight after half-time which put them 14 points away from us.

“We didn’t kick the ball well in the second half so we didn’t have any platform to work from. I thought we hung in the first half. In the first 10 minutes we gave penalty after penalty, they had three straight sets and then they scored.

“We talked about patience and field position in the second half but we couldn’t get any until the last 10 minutes of the game. Our stats are poor again and you won’t win the raffle at 56 per cent completion. We were at 86 per cent last week and we won the game comfortably but we aren’t giving ourselves a chance as a group.”

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