January 14, 2018

Trinity Lose out to Batley Bulldogs

Trinity saw their second defeat of pre season despite the youthful side holding their own against a strong Batley line up.

It was an impressive first half performance from the youthful Trinity side despite it being a very scrappy encounter at the Fox’s Biscuits Stadium going into the lead following a try from Ashen.

Batley Bulldogs had countless opportunities throughout the first 40 minutes to get over the line but their final touch on the ball was extremely poor.

It was a quiet start for Trinity with Batley stamping their authority early on looking dangerous in attack keeping the visitors deep into their own half but countless errors from both sides made it a hard fought friendly.

The home side were awarded with three back to back penalties and it was James Harrison who was the closest to opening the scoreline within the opening four minutes however his final touch was lacking an he lost possession and Trinity held on.

Trinity slowly grew into the game despite a strong attacking display from the home side who kept Trinity deep into their own half.

Tom Ashen intercepted the ball in Trinity 20m mark and the winger raced 70m to get over the line to break the deadlock with 10minutes of the first half remaining. 0-6

A strong defensive set from Batley forcing the Trinity error, Wayne Reittie almost got Batley onto the score sheet but he was forced into touch from the Trinity defence to deny the home side of a try with two minutes from half time.

It was a much more action packed second half and Batley instantly responded well showing more aggression in attack and got over to score early tries.

Alistair Leak won back the possession for Batley Bulldogs who lost the ball following the kick-off, Leak sneaked over from dummy-half to give the home side their first try of the game.

Moments later and a right-to-left shift from Batley and Shaun Ainscough got over to put the home side into the lead. 12-6.

A fantastic set from Trinity to pull back level after a cross-field kick from Max Jowitt to find Lewis Wray on his inside, the ball then came back to Jowitt who got over on the last tackle.

On the 56th minute Batley caught the Trinity defence napping to get a quick try, James Brown touched the ball down from close range to put the home side back into the lead by four points after Walker was unsuccessful with the conversion.

A few defensive errors from Trinity allowed the home side to take advantage of the possession and Wayne Reittie finally got a try in his name for Batley after three previous attempts. Walker was unsuccessful with the conversion once again, 20-12.

Batley sealed the win on 72 minutes after Dane Manning crossed the line for the home side to go 12 points clear following another missed conversion.

Full Time Batley Bulldogs 24-12 Wakefield Trinity.