Bradford Bulls knocked out of the play-offs as Batley Bulldogs move one step closer to the Betfred Super League

Bradford Bulls fall at the first play-off hurdle as they were defeated 23-10 by the Batley Bulldogs in an intense battle at Mount Pleasant.

A 16-point lead at the break and some resilient defending proved to be enough for Batley despite a dominant second half from the Bulls.

The Bulldogs were the first to get the scoreboard rolling, an early penalty converted by Tom Gilmore got the hosts ahead.

Following an outstanding 40/20 kick from Gilmore giving the Bulldogs a fresh set, Ben Kaye burrowed over the line after clever play to deceive the Bradford defence and continue Batley’s fantastic start

The Bulls wasted opportunities as Elliot Kear’s charge towards the line failed and the young full-back was dragged into touch.

Another good opportunity followed with Kear involved again. The full-back linked up with Ross Oakes but Kear tried a clever pass which saw Bradford waste possession.

It was the hosts who went on to score again. Following a dangerous tackle by Danny Brough, Gilmore kicked for an extra two making it 10-0 in Batley’s favour.

Gilmore ran the show for the Bulldogs, and another error from Brough, led to Nyle Flynn setting up the Batley number seven who had the easy task to run over the line.

The Bulldogs were nearly in again after that. Firstly, Dean Foggin-Johnstone denied Flynn after he broke the defensive line and Joe Brown caught Gilmore’s kick to end the set for Batley.

Batley continued to threaten the Bradford line early in the second half. Greg Johnson looked certain to score in the corner, but he opted to offload the ball and the pass was batted out of play by Jordan Lilley.

The Bulls started to test their opponents’ backline more often and their pressure paid off. Lilley broke through the line and fed Rhys Evans, he laid it to Joe Brown who fended off his man and flew over the line to earn his side’s first try.

Bradford had two no-tries in the space of two minutes as Flanagan again barged his way through to the line but referee James Child did not give the try. Shortly after, Dan Fleming dived on a loose ball, however during the move, the ball went forward in the move and the try was disallowed.

The visitors were in the mood for a second try and they got it. Brough’s little kick through found Lilley who grabbed the ball and touched the ball down. Brough kicked the extra two to put his team and try and a kick behind.

Brough thought he was in after Crossley’s pass but the referee adjudged that the prop passed the ball forward.

Despite the Bulls pressure, it was Batley who scored again. Elliott Hall, despite the best efforts of Kear, managed to crawl over the line to put some breathing space between them and their opponents.

To finish the game, Gilmore clipped over a drop goal to knocked the Bulls out of the play-offs and sent his side through to the play-off semi-finals.

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