Dewsbury Rams 24 Batley Bulldogs 28: Bulldogs inch their way to Bash victory after trailing derby foes

Batley Bulldogs turned an 18-12 half-time deficit on its head to edge past Dewsbury Rams 28-24 in the first of Sunday's Championship Summer Bash triple-header.
Pat WalkerPat Walker
Pat Walker

Pat Walker’s 40-metre penalty and late drop-goal inched Batley Bulldogs into a late 27-24 lead, before Dominic Brambani slotted another drop-goal that sealed the turnaround victory.

Dalton Grant’s try for Dewsbury had levelled the game at 24-24 with 17 minutes to play, after Dewsbury tries from Jason Crookes, Paul Sykes and Dale Morton. Chris Ulugia, Greg Minikin, James Brown and Tom Lillycrop all crossed for Batley.

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Leaders Leigh, meanwhile, extended their unbeaten run to 14 matches with a thrilling 24-20 victory over Bradford in the final match on the opening day of the Summer Bash.

The Bulls led 10-0 after only nine minutes after scoring tries through Danny Williams and Mitch Clark – plus a goal from Danny Addy – but the Centuriions struck back with scores from wingers Liam Kay and Adam Higson and new signing Josh Drinkwater to go 18-10 in front early in the second half.

Adam O’Brien cut Leigh’s advantage to just four points after 53 minutes.

And, after Addy plunged over for his side’s fourth try six minutes from the end to level the scores, Oscar Thomas added the conversion to put Bradford back in front to set up a thrilling finish.

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The lead lasted only four minutes, however, as Centurions captain Micky Higham won the race to Drinkwater’s grubber kick to score the match-winning try.

And Ben Reynolds kicked his fourth goal to seal the success.