Batley Boys U10s V Dewsbury Celtic U10s

Batley Boys U10s entertained local rivals Dewsbury Celtic for the first time this season in what turned out to be a great game
played in good spirit.

Coming off the back of a good win Batley started with confidence and after kicking off to Celtic a good defensive set saw them win
the ball back just past half way. A great drive from most improved Logan Bagshaw saw Batley deep into the Celtic half and Riley
Sanderson did the rest with quick feet seeing him break the line and open the scoring. Batley and Celtic traded sets with the
boys looking most likely to score but a break from Celtic saw them run around the Batley defence and level the scores giving Batley
a timely reminder just what the quick Dewsbury outfit could do. From the restart Miles Wilkinson and Daniel Goodlad demonstrated
their strength to get up the pitch before Callum Smith fed Solomon Haldenby who was able to find a gap and power over the line to
put the hosts back into the lead. Again Celtic came back but Batley were stifling any attack with their impressive line speed
despite having to retreat a full 10 yards after each play, and in attack were causing all sorts of problems as Logan Hinchliffe
was able to get the forwards running onto the ball with pace and it was one of the forwards, Solomon Haldenby, who again broke the
line to extend the lead. As half time approached Stefan Dumitru stepped up to take a run and the Celtic defence had no answer as he
powered over the line to cap an impressive half where his tackling had been faultless, Callum Smith was able to convert to give Batley
a healthy half time lead.

After a half that had seen the Batley forwards take control it was up to the backs to show us what they could do and they stepped up
in emphatic style. Lewis Stafford playing at centre (and later full-back) was taking advantage of quick play the balls to gain good
ground with his scoots and Anthony Newsome-Brennan and Callum McNaughton saw more of the ball as Batley looked to move it out wider. Perhaps the best part of Batley's performance was the defence with top tackler Josh Howagte and spectators man of the match Riley Sanderson leading the way, and it was some of this defence which led to Josh Howgate pouncing on a loose ball and extending the lead, before converting his own try. Celtic were playing their part in a good game with Batley having to do some last ditch defending to
keep them out but it was Batley who extended their lead as Logan Hinchliffe cut across the line before dropping off Noah Jones who,
with plenty of work still to do beat several defenders to score in the corner and converted his try to top it off. As Batley pressed
they were unlucky not to score again as Josh Howagte did all the hard work to get over the line before stepping off the back of the
pitch, and shortly after a great run from Josh Martin saw him offload to Brandon Hall-Crowther (winning him magic moment) who grounded the ball but was penalised for a double movement even though no Celtic hands were on him at the time. The last word went to Celtic who were able to break the Batley line for a consolation try but it was too late to have any affect as Batley completed the win.

Man of the match: Noah Jones
Spectators man of the match: Riley Sanderson
Top tackler: Josh Howgate
Most improved: Logan Bagshaw
Magic moment: Josh Martin