York Knights fall to 22-18 defeat at Batley Bulldogs despite comeback

Batley only had 10 points to show for a strong first-half performance, which included a contentious Joe Burton try, but Robbie Butterworth and Alistair Leak soon put paid to the bright start the Knights had made after the interval.

Andrew Henderson’s side were handed the advantage of running down the famous Mount Pleasant slope during the second half, and with Ukuma Ta’ai, Jordan Thompson and Tom Lineham all crossing the whitewash to leave them in with a shout, there was a renewed hope that a second consecutive win was on the cards.

However, the 22-point deficit ultimately proved too difficult for them to overcome, with Henderson conceding that his side had got what they deserved as Batley held out to take the spoils.

RECAP: Batley Bulldogs 22-18 York Knights

He made three changes from last weekend’s outstanding victory against Bradford Bulls, notably welcoming back Nikau Williams, who made his first appearance in a month after a four-match suspension.

Harvey Reynolds was also handed a start in the second row in place of the injured Jacob Gannon, with Brad Ward replacing Hull FC loanee Charlie Severs in the centres after his head knock last week.

Lucas Walshaw made his 250th career appearance as he lined up in Batley’s second row, but it was a savvy use of their bench, in particular Samy Kibula and Adam Gledhill, that perhaps offered their biggest threat.

Having been tasked with heading up the slope in the first half, the Knights started poorly, with experienced prop Ta’ai dropping what had seemed a simple offload on his 40-metre line with just two minutes played.

Batley subsequently looked to attack the right wing, but Dale Morton could only watch on as the final pass flew past him and into touch 10 metres from the line.

Butterworth then found half a break to the 20-metre line as the hosts continued to knock on the door, but the Knights were happy to shepherd out Josh Woods’ grubber from the next tackle.

However, it wasn’t long before Batley had their first points of the afternoon.

Liam Harris’ grubber rolled dead, with the Knights then conceding a six-again for a tackle on Leak before being penalised for offside inside their 10-metre line.

The pressure inevitably proved too great on their defence, with Walshaw crashing over from close range just to the right of the posts on his milestone appearance before Woods slotted over the resultant conversion with ease.

Such was the hosts’ dominance, over 20 minutes had been played before the Knights won their first set in good-ball position, but Burton did well to prevent a goal-line drop-out under pressure from Harris’ grubber.

The Knights found things tough going up the hill, but did well to only go in 10 points behind at half time. (Image: Craig Hawkhead)

Instead, Batley doubled their lead shortly before the half-hour, albeit perhaps fortuitously.

A penalty for a high tackle gifted the hosts field position inside the Knights’ 30-metre line, with Robbie Butterworth playing in Burton, referee Scott Mikalauskas awarding the try despite the ball appearing to slip from the winger’s hands before he was able to ground into the left corner.

It was always a tough proposition for left-footer Woods from the touchline as he missed his only effort from the tee.

Batley continued to threaten, with Kibula brought down metres short after an outstanding carry by Ben White, but they were unable to add to their 10-point lead before the break.

The Knights made a dream start to the second half, with Morton claiming Myles Harrison’s kick-off in-goal, but Burton was across well to claim a grubber on the last tackle.

A strong defensive set then saw Woods forced to kick from his own 20-metre line, but despite Lineham appearing to have touched down into the left corner, Mikalauskas ruled that Williams’ cut-out pass had been forwards.

That proved to be another costly decision for the Knights, who found themselves further behind with 47 minutes played as White broke through the defensive line before feeding Butterworth, who sprinted to score in the right corner.

Batley extended their lead again seven minutes later after the ball slipped from Harrison’s grasp as he was tackled on his 20-metre line on the kick return.

Leak duly capitalised to stretch out an arm to score underneath the posts, with Woods comfortably slotting over their final points of the afternoon.

However, the introduction of Ata Hingano proved an inspired one, with the hosts struggling to handle him as the ball-playing loose forward that Henderson has craved.

Ukuma Ta'ai kickstarted the Knights' comeback on the hour. (Image: Craig Hawkhead)

The Knights finally brought themselves onto the board on the hour, Ta’ai proving too strong for Batley’s try-line defence as he collected Josh Daley’s short pass before crashing over from close range.

That lit a fire under them, and they were into double figures just three minutes later when Thompson charged unchallenged through a gap in the home defence to score beneath the posts.

Harrison converted both, and had a hand in their next try two sets later after being caught by what appeared to have been a stray elbow as he looked to race onto Woods’ chip on his 30-metre line.

The Knights went left, with Jimmy Keinhorst delivering an outrageous pass through his legs to Lineham, who finished acrobatically into the left corner.

With momentum swinging in their favour, a healthy away crowd were believing the comeback was on.

But York were unable to find another try, their play becoming ever-frantic as a needless pull on the marker handed Batley a pressure-relieving penalty on their 30-metre line, before Williams’ looping pass to Lineham was ruled forwards in the dying minutes.

The result undoubtedly feels like an opportunity missed in West Yorkshire for the Knights, who return to the LNER Community Stadium against Whitehaven on Sunday (3pm).

BATLEY BULLDOGS: Butterworth, Morton, Kear, Buchanan, Burton, White, Woods, Gledhill, Leak, Cooper, Manning, Walshaw, Moore.

INTERCHANGES: Flynn, Kibula, Burton, Ward.

TRIES: Walshaw (15), Burton (27), Butterworth (47), Leak (54)

GOALS: Woods 3/4

YORK KNIGHTS: Harrison, Brown, Ward, Keinhorst, Lineham, Williams, Harris, Ta’ai, Jubb, Fitzsimmons, Bailey, Reynolds, Thompson.

INTERCHANGES: Daley, Hingano, Michael, Teanby.

TRIES: Ta’ai (60), Thompson (63), Lineham (66)

GOALS: Harrison 3/3

HALF TIME: 10-0

POINTS SEQUENCE: 4-0, 6-0, 10-0, 14-0, 16-0, 20-0, 22-0, 22-4, 22-6, 22-10, 22-12, 22-16, 22-18

YORK’S STAR MAN: Ata Hingano. Despite only coming on with half an hour left to play, the Batley defence did not know how to handle him as he helped orchestrate the Knights’ second-half comeback.

ATTENDANCE: 865

REFEREE: Scott Mikalauskas