BATLEY BULLDOGS 12 BRADFORD BULLS 16
KEITH McGHIE, Fox’s Biscuits Stadium, Sunday
A TEMPESTUOUS Tyke derby finished with ten Batley players against twelve Bradford as the Bulls kept their bid for a first 1895 Cup final appearance intact.
Referee Scott Mikalauskas showed seven cards, two of them red, as the visitors maintained their unbeaten record in all competitions.
The multiple Challenge Cup winners, whose last appearance at Wembley was in 1997, ground their way into the quarter-finals through two tries by Mitch Souter and one by Matty Gee plus two James Meadows goals.
Batley were never far away, but scores from Dane Manning and Jack Render, and two Josh Woods goals, were not enough.
Bradford swept into a ten-point lead, only to fall 12-10 behind before the hour.
Batley coach Mark Moxon was able to keep dual-registered Harvey Smith and also include fellow Wakefield man Josh Rourke in his squad, while former Bradford player Elliot Kear came in for Jayden Myers under an understanding that the centre, who moved to Trinity from Bradford, would not play against his old team.
Bradford boss Brian Noble, blessed with a fairly healthy and in-depth squad, recalled Gee, Souter, James Donaldson and Logan Bayliss-Brow with Jayden Okunbor (hamstring) and Joe Keyes (back) also returning.
With Bradford heading down the slope, Souter opened the scoring when spotting a gap from dummy-half and working his way to the line from 20 metres out.
Ex-Batley man Meadows converted before the hosts lost Nyle Flynn to a knee injury incurred in a tackle.
Nevertheless they managed to boss much of the next ten minutes, albeit without truly threatening.
The introduction of Franklin Pele, aided by the slope, helped Bradford regain control with Keyes’ evasiveness enabling Gee to claim Bradford’s second score, although Meadows pulled the subsequent kick wide.
Waqa Blake flattened Ollie Greensmith with a bone-shuddering tackle, then Pele did likewise on Brandon Moore just before the break but, undeterred, Batley gained a penalty right on the hooter, allowing Woods to narrow the deficit to eight points.
Guest for the day, RFL president Adam Hills, praised the British game’s community spirit and the number of visiting supporters who made short trip.
After the break, a Ben White high kick was taken by Manning, who crossed the line to help close the gap to two (Woods goaled).
Bradford lost Souter to the sin bin for holding down as his side conceded their ninth penalty, against just one obtained.
Quick, crisp passing to the right enabled Joe Burton to put Render over in the corner, edging Batley ahead for the first time.
A typical derby skirmish led the referee to show yellow cards to Blake and Kear.
Souter, now back on, made the most of the extra space to burrow over from dummy-half with Meadows’ kick making it 16-12.
Greensmith was yellow carded for a late challenge on Tom Holmes, then Batley teammate James Brown joined him in the sin bin for a professional foul.
Jordan Lilley was held up and Okunbor made one thrilling break from deep, before a major fight broke out in the closing minutes with Manning and Holmes sent off.
GAMESTAR: Bradford’s Jayden Okunbor made many metres amid a spirited display and almost sealed matters with a thrilling break near the end.
GAMEBREAKER: When Batley went down to ten men, only an interception or breakaway could have prevented Bradford progressing.
MATCHFACTS
BULLDOGS
28 Josh Rourke
5 Elliot Kear
3 Ollie Greensmith
2 Joe Burton
13 Jack Render
6 Ben White
7 Josh Woods
15 Nyle Flynn
9 Alistair Leak
13 James Brown
4 Joe Arundel
11 Dane Manning
14 Brandon Moore
Subs (all used)
30 Harvey Smith
23 Jonah Parsons
16 Michael Ward
17 Luke Blake
Tries: Manning (44), Render (53)
Goals: Woods 2/3
Sin bin: Kear (60) – fighting, Greensmith (74) – late tackle, Brown (77) – professional foul
Dismissal: Manning (79) – fighting
BULLS
1 Tom Holmes
5 Guy Armitage
4 Kieran Gill
3 Waqa Blake
37 Jayden Okunbor
7 Joe Keyes
6 James Meadows
8 Michael Lawrence
14 Mitch Souter
10 Ebon Scurr
12 Matty Gee
11 Zac Fulton
13 James Donaldson
Subs (all used)
9 Jordan Lilley
15 Logan Bayliss-Brow
17 Franklin Pele
20 Ronan Michael
Tries: Souter (10, 62), Gee (34)
Goals: Meadows 2/3
Sin bin: Souter (45) – holding down, Blake (60) – fighting
Dismissal: Holmes (79) – fighting
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-10, 2-10; 8-10, 12-10, 12-16
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Bulldogs: Josh Rourke; Bulls: Jayden Okunbor
Penalty count: 10-7
Half-time: 2-10
Referee: Scott Mikalauskas