MATCH REPORT

by Stuart Martel Batley 8, York 3

A twin-pronged glory assault for York Rugby League Club was spiked by familiar defeat at Mount Pleasant.

Second Division points went begging when Fata Sini's last minute try was disallowed for a forward pass by centre Shaun Austerfield.

And the Wasps 8-3 defeat at the hands of Batley Bulldogs - coupled with Bramley's crushing victory over Doncaster - also thwarted their efforts to sneak into the Trans-Pennine Cup final.

That honour goes to the Bulldogs, who snarled and scrapped their way to victory in a titanic defensive struggle at Mount Pleasant yesterday.

The home side saw three tries disallowed by Wigan referee Peter Taberner but Roger Simpson broke the Wasps line for the game's solitary, but decisive, four pointer.

For the Wasps there was consolation in their mighty defensive efforts, but their forward motions were alarmingly few and far between.

York have failed to make gains at Mount Pleasant for the past eight years, their last victory coming in November 1990.

They were in a strong position at the half-time interval, trailing by just three points and with the prospect of playing down the infamous slope in the second half.

However, the home side are well-schooled in fighting against that slope and applied greater pressure despite the disadvantage.

The Wasps created just two threatening attacks in the entire 80 minutes, both coming in the dying seconds of either half.

The first ended with substitute Andy Precious slotting over a drop goal after York scrambled their way towards the Batley posts. But York's main chance came in injury time after centre Austerfield wriggled clear of the defence to go one-on-one with full-back Jeremy Dyson.

As the Batley rearguard closed in Austerfield opted to pass rather than head for the line and his desperate throw out to Sini was ruled forward.

A converted try in the third minute of injury time would have been an escape to eclipse even the previous week's effort against Doncaster.

But Batley's second half display in shutting out the Wasps was worthy of a place in the Trans-Pennine Cup final.

York's struggle to gain any attacking momentum was central to their demise.

Half-backs John Strange and Mick Crane were virtually anonymous when their side held possession, while hooker Alan Pallister and loose forward Paul Darley also laboured in attack.

Leading scorer Leigh Deakin was starved of the ball and wing partner Sini was time and again forced to try battering his way through a thick wall of Batley tacklers.

Prop forward Craig Booth gave York an early two point lead after Batley were penalised for interfering at the play the ball.

On their next drive, Mark Cain's drop goal attempt was charged down by Bulldogs scrum-half Gary Barnett, but thereafter Batley penned York back.

The Wasps survived six tackles near their own line when former York forward Paul Harrison knocked on in the in-goal area.

Another let-off came when Richard Price, faced only by full-back Cain, off-loaded to Lee Bargate and the winger over ran the ball.

High-impact tackles by Deakin on Harrison and Cain on Mark Cass failed to shake the Bulldogs out of their stride and within minutes the York line was breached.

Simpson took Barnett's pass, turned Sini through 360 degrees and evaded Craig Moore's lunge to race in under the posts. Price converted.

Cain, enduring an uncertain 80 minutes at full-back, lost the ball after being carried ten metres towards his own line, but York held out for six more tackles after the resulting scrum.

Only Barnett's slip prevented a second try on 35 minutes and a forward pass, from Barnett to Harrison, scuppered another potential score for the Bulldogs.

The anticipated downhill drive from York after the interval was undone from the off, a Precious kick flying straight into touch to set the tone for the half.

A perfectly good try was ruled out for a perceived Paul Gleadhill push on Sini as the two wingers fought for possession from Dyson's up and under.

And Bargate's dash for the corner after a Cass pass was also ruled out by the referee.

Substitute Gareth Dobson made ground from dummy half late in the game but a string of penalties kept shunting the Wasps backwards.

And their only sight of the Batley line in the second half came and went with Austerfield's forward pass to Sini in the 83rd minute. Hogg The Builder/Evening Press Man of the Match : Andy Hill

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