BATLEY 6 BULLS 16

THE Bulls halted their slide on Batley’s slope today with a first win in four games.

After successive setbacks against Sheffield, York and Toulouse, John Kear’s men got back on track in energy-sapping conditions at the Fox’s Biscuits Stadium.

Mount Pleasant was anything but at times with the wild weather but Kear, who has life membership at Batley after five successful years coaching the club, enjoyed his first return on competitive duty.

The game was effectively won in the first-half as the Bulls took full advantage of having first crack at the notorious slope to run in three unanswered tries.

The effort that took out of the home side was clear when they tried unsuccessfully to do the same after the break against a determined Bulls defence.

There were three changes from the side “nilled” by Toulouse. Jordan Lilley and James Green were back from suspension and winger David Foggin-Johnston came in for his competitive debut.

For Lilley, it was an opportunity to get back into the good books after his dissent at Sheffield – and he certainly did that with some excellent kicking throughout.

Elliot Minchella’s broken nose from last weekend meant the vice-captain was reduced to watching duty – he had only just been able to start breathing properly again. Matty Garside and Ash Gibson also missed out.

The conditions made for as big a test as the opposition – swirling rain and a driving wind making field position crucial.

The Bulls played down the hill first-half as they had done in the Yorkshire Cup final in January.

Not that Kear saw any other similarities between that pre-season encounter and the clash between two sides “desperate”, in his words, for the two points.

He would have been pleased with the way the Bulls kept their hosts pinned deep “at the bottom of the hill” in the opening exchanges.

Sam Hallas had the first chance to strike with a show and go run towards the posts. But he knocked on as he tried to reach for the line.

Lilley’s well-weighted kick to the corner forced the game’s first goalline drop-out but the Bulls were unable to capitalise. Similarly, Batley’s first pressure engineered by Dom Brambani’s grubber kick came to nothing.

The weather had eased but the ball remained as slippery as a bar of soap at times and Matty Wildie and Mikey Wood were guilty of drops with their team in good positions. The missed opportunities were beginning to add up.

Jake Webster, starting in the second row for the first time, was then held up on his back before the Bulls finally broke the deadlock after a costly home error.

Wildie’s kick was spilled by Jack Downs and the Bulls took full advantage of their repeat set as Ethan Ryan dived to score in the corner.

And they increased the lead on the half-hour after continuing to pound away.

Quick hands created the opening for Brandon Pickersgill to send in Ross Oakes for the second try. Lilley had a much easier conversion this time and added the extras to put the Bulls 10-0 up.

Little had been seen of Batley as an attacking force and they squandered an opportunity to hit back after Foggin-Johnston knocked on from the kick-off.

The Bulldogs forced a second goalline drop-out – only for Brambani to fumble the kick from Lilley.

It was still predominantly one-way traffic down the slope and the visitors struck a crucial third blow three minutes before half-time.

Liam Kirk went over from a Hallas short pass for his first try since the Bulls were last in the Championship in 2017. Lilley’s kick gave them a more solid-looking 16-point advantage to defend against the elements when the teams turned round.

The weather also switched in their favour with bright sunshine and a blue sky as they played uphill.

The easier conditions should have helped Lilley tack in another couple more when the Bulls were awarded a penalty 15 metres out for holding down. It was almost straight in front but the stand-off’s kick pinged the right post.

Batley looked to fashion a response as back-to-back penalties for offside took them within range of the Bulls line. But Brambani’s pass went to ground and Wildie pounced on the loose ball to defuse the danger.

The cook in the burger van showed better hands to catch a Brambani kick to touch before it landed on his grill.

That produced a few laughs but referee Michael Mannifield was not amusing the Bulls as he punished them with a succession of penalties by their own line.

But Batley still could not make the pressure pay – and came away empty-handed when they were pulled up themselves for a double movement.

The Bulls had been strong defensively and not allowed Batley any chink of light to launch a comeback. You could sense the confidence returning to their play after the knockbacks of recent weeks.

But Batley got a break to come back into it with 12 minutes left. Another generous-looking penalty, given against Hallas for allegedly stripping the ball, set up the chance – which this time was taken as former Bull Johnny Campbell set up Danny Yates.

Dave Scott’s conversion reduced it to 16-6 and Batley looked to mount a grandstand finish. The home fans made themselves heard for the first time – but it was short-lived.

They were reduced to 12 men with five minutes to go after Tom Lillycrop was sin-binned for poleaxing Mikey Wood with a high shot on the halfway line.

The prop’s departure effectively curtailed any comeback hopes for his team, although Hallas could not quite squeeze over the line for a fourth try with a George Flanagan-style sneak from dummy half.