Betfred Championship: Featherstone Rovers made to dig deep by Bradford Bulls as Batley Bulldogs all but seal top-six place

The Bulls took an early lead through Ben Evans followed quickly by two Joe Keyes penalty goals which left the Rovers trailing by 10 points within the opening quarter of an hour. Fev’s Jacob Doyle struck back with a try midway through the first half, converted by Craig Hall.

Keyes kicked the ball dead from the restart allowing Featherstone field position from which Nu Brown dived in, Hall again converting.

Bradford were quick to respond, a clever break letting Brandon Pickersgill through to score, Keyes converted to make it 20-12 to Bradford at the break. Rovers needed to start the second half strongly and did. James Harrison crashed over for his first of the afternoon on 44 minutes before repeating his effort five minutes later with Hall improving both.

Brown scored a second try, Hall tagging the extras and then he converted a penalty in front of the posts.

But Bulls would not lie down and scored two quick tries through Rhys Evans and George Flanagan to bring them within two points. Rovers’ Gareth Gale was sent to the sin bin for a tackle on Keyes, before former Bradford man Dane Chisholm had the final word, collecting a loose ball 40m out to score the clincher.

Elsewhere, Batley Bulldogs all but sealed a top-six place by defeating Newcastle Thunder 42-12.

The hosts, who led 24-6 at half-time ran in seven tries, with Tom Gilmore converting six and adding a penalty.

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