Featherstone Rovers v Batley Bulldogs Rugby League Match report by Daniel Crossfield (a dedicated flatcapper watching at home)

Featherstone Rovers v Batley Bulldogs  Betfred Championship Round 1 (Friday 2^nd April 2021)

All Championship and some Challenge Cup games are on OurLeague until fans are allowed back into grounds.  I paid my £4.95 early bird   the quality overall was good, no problems which you can get sometimes with streams and the commentators were good and knowledgeable and I would definitely recommend for rugby league if their team isn’t on Sky Sports.

A link to OurLeague is https://www.rugby-league.com/our_league_free_membership

This was the opening round of the Betfred Championship and the only game over Easter for teams this year, as Featherstone Rovers took on Batley Bulldogs under the floodlights, so who would get the 2 points and start the league season well?

Keep reading to find out.

It was played at The Millennium Stadium in Featherstone  

After nine minutes, Rovers forced a drop out for Batley, and from the set of six Kopczak was held up near the line.

Three minutes later, there was an error by Featherstone and Batley kicked it and Broughton couldn’t get the ball down

1^st Rovers try

After a quarter of a hour, Featherstone scored their first try of the league season as Chisholm played a nice reverse pass inside to Kopczak who used his size advantage to cross over the line, successful conversion by Hall.

2^nd Featherstone try

At the midway point of the first half, Rovers scored their 2^nd try after a great kick by Chisholm out wide, Gale offloaded to Welham who dived over in the corner, unsuccessful conversion by Hall.

1^st Batley try

Four minutes later, Batley scored their 1^st try of the league season, as Elliott Hall went through the gap, Bussey got hold of him, but he escaped him and scored, successful conversion by Gilmore.

3rd Rovers try

With five minutes before halftime Rovers scored their 3rd try as Chisholm did a grubber kick and Halton kicked it forward and dived on the ball over the line, unsuccessful conversion by Hall.

A couple of minutes later, Chisholm dropped his shoulder, did a line break and passed to Harrison who couldn’t keep hold of it.

4^th Rovers try

On the halftime hooter, Rovers got their 4^th try as there was a silky run by Brown who used his pace to burst over the line, another unsuccessful conversion by Hall.

Halftime score:  Featherstone Rovers 18-6 Batley Bulldogs

So a good first half, some good tries again by Rovers and again the only criticism I’d have of Rovers is their lack of converting tries, how would the 2^nd half go?

5^th Rovers try

Six minutes into the 2^nd half, Rovers scored their 5^th try and it was a brilliant try as there was good, quick passing by Rovers which ended with Gareth Gale scoring a diving try in the right corner, unsuccessful conversion by Hall.

2^nd Batley try

Just before the hour mark, Batley got their 2^nd try as a Batley kicker did a good kick, and Walshaw climbed above everyone else and plucked it out of the air to score, successful conversion by Gilmore.

Sixth Rovers try

With around 15 minutes left, it was a 6th try as Kopczak passed to Moors who powerfully drove over the line to score, successful conversion by Chisholm.

With ten minutes to go, Rovers were unlucky as Hardcastle stole the ball, he got stopped by his collar and from that passage of play, Kopczak went over but it was ruled out for a forward pass.

3^rd Batley try

The final try of the night was a consolation for Batley and it was a brilliant one as White offloaded to Logan who scored under the posts, successful conversion by Gilmore.

Fulltime score:  Featherstone Rovers 28-18 Batley Bulldogs

So I thought for an opening league game, it was a good game, both teams scored some good tries, and as I said in my opening statement, I was impressed with the quality of OurLeague website for the match.

Next up for Featherstone is their 3^rd Round  Betfred Challenge Cup tie against Super League Hull FC so it will be a test for Featherstone on Saturday 10^th April on OurLeague with a 7pm kickoff.