Whitehaven look to get back to winning ways against promotion challengers Batley

Whitehaven welcome the Batley Bulldogs to the LEL Arena on Sunday afternoon, as they look to put their disappointing draw against Sheffield behind them and get back to winning ways in the Betfred Championship.

The home side will welcome fans back into the ground for the first time this season, and they’ll be hoping that they can play a big part in helping secure another vital two points, in what has been an up and down campaign for them so far.

They had led Sheffield 25-12 in their last game, but the ‘Eagles’ mounted a late comeback, and a drop-goal from Anthony Thackeray right on the final whistle made the scores level, leaving Gary Charlton’s men facing a long trip back home to Cumbria.

One positive for the team that day was the return of Dion Aiye who has been a stand-out performer for ‘Haven’ in the last few seasons, and the Papa New Guinean will be looking to build on that in Sunday’s game.

They face tough opposition though, as Batley have been in flying form so far this season, only losing two of the eight games they have played, and they beat Swinton 26-12 last time out with Dale Morton starring with the boot.

Head coach Craig Lingard has built a strong side for this campaign, with former Super League player Jodie Broughton one of the standout names, and they are already proving to be promotion challengers in the competition.

Broughton’s fellow winger Jonny Campbell is the ‘Bulldogs’ top try scorer with six tries in eight matches, and with experienced half-backs in Ben White and Tom Gilmore leading them around the field, Whitehaven will have to be on the top of their game if they want to walk away from the game with a result.

Head-to-Head

The last time the two teams met was back in 2016, where Batley ran out 16-8 winners, with their current captain James Brown getting on the scoresheet.

Whitehaven’s most recent win against the ‘Bulldogs’ came in 2015 where club legend Craig Calvert scored a brace in the 24-12 victory, but they have lost the last four meetings between the two teams and will be looking for a change of fortune come Sunday afternoon.

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