Harrison disappointed by start

Batley boss Karl Harrison watched his side get away to a losing start in their defence of the Northern Rail Cup and admitted he was disappointed.

“Obviously I’m disappointed but full credit to Leigh they had the better field position throughout the day and although I thought the sending off was harsh, they were the better team and they deserved to win.”

“We’ve come into the season on the back of four pre-season games and done well, but we’ve failed to win the competitive game and were second best.”

“We’re not a bad team.” He said, “And we aren’t going to panic after one game. It’s a long, long season. Yes we want to go to Blackpool and retain our trophy, if that does happen we need to knuckle down and get the results we require.”

Harrison feels that for a side to progress to the knock-out stages of the competition, it needs to win three games.

Batley will now take on Hunslet, Gateshead and Halifax and all three teams will pose a challenge for the Bulldogs.

“It’s a great competition; at this level you only get two chances to win a trophy – The Grand Final and the Northern Rail Final.”