Drighlington U10s V Batley Boys

Batley Boys U10s travelled to Drighlington for their final pre-season friendly before next weeks opener as they
looked for a morale boosting win.

Having worked on defence for the previous four weeks Batley were hopeful of keeping Drighlington at bay but a
shaky start saw Batley two tries down within a matter of minutes as Drighlington began on the front foot.
With the scoreline already threatening to get away Batley were under instruction to tighten up their defence, and
they did just that as forwards Cole Ripley (Most improved), Miles Wilkinson and Solomon Haldenby took charge
in the middle while Callum McNaughton, Anthony Newsome-Brennan and Lucas Moore ensured Drighlington had no
joy out wide.
With Batley gradually taking control of the game and playing in Drighlingtons half it came as
no surprise when Daniel Goodlad drove over the line and kicked his own conversion to bring the boys back into
the game. There was to be no let-up as the Batley defence held firm and halfbacks Callum Smith (Joint man of
the match) and Noah Jones (Joint man of the match/opposition man of the match) began to guide Batley around
the field, and with the ball moving around Drighlington struggled to cope with attacks from all angles.
It was a break from Noah Jones that was to bring the next try as he drew Drighlingtons left winger in before
Brandon Hall-Crowther (top tackler) on the Batley wing read the situation brilliantly and cut inside for Noah's
drop-off which split open the Drighlington defence and left him with a dash to the line to put Batley into the
lead for the first time.

HALF TIME: DRIGHLINGTON 8-10 BATLEY

The second half started with Batley dominating possession but impressive defence saw the home team stop attacks
from Logan Bagshaw, Lewis Stafford and an impressive Stefan Dumitru on his debut (spectators man of the match).
Despite all their possesion Batley found themselves behind as a break from Drighlington on the outside saw them
regain the lead.
With Drighlington heads up it was crucial Batley hit back next and they did just that as
fullback Josh Howgate made his own break and left three Drighlington defenders trailing to score in the corner,
Callum Smith subsequently hit the bar with his conversion attempt. Solomon Haldenby was next over for Batley with
a strong drive, and an unfortunate gust of wind prevented him from converting his own try. Batley kept coming
as Logan Hinchliffe almost got over the line and Noah Jones looked to have scored but was deemed short of the line,
but it was Drighlington who again got back into the game after a rare defensive lapse brought the scores to 16-18.
Fittingly the last word went to Daniel Goodlad who had started the scoring for Batley, a strong run saw Drighlington
unable to deal with his power and he replied immediately for Batley. All in all a very pleasing display with a much
improved defence, and a deserved win for the Under 10s.

FULL TIME: DRIGHLINGTON 16-22 BATLEY