Craig Lingard: Batley Bulldogs 'didn't offer enough' in second half at Halifax Panthers

The Bulldogs had responded well themselves from an early Lachlan Walmsley try as efforts from Dale Morton, Aidan McGowan and Samy Kibula gave them a 4-16 lead just before the half-time interval.

But tries from James Woodburn-Hall, right on the hooter, Walmsley and James Saltonstall gave Fax the win.

After the game Lingard said:

“We just didn’t offer enough in that second half. We scored just towards the end of the first half to go 12 points in front and we sent a message out just to complete and to get into half-time without any more errors. We then came up with a silly offload on halfway to gift Halifax possession and they scored right on the hooter.

“Instead of being 12 points up at half-time and, potentially, Halifax under a little bit of pressure, we fuelled them just before the break. And then in the first set of the second half, we’ve thrown an interception pass and in the space of two game minutes, we’ve gone from 12 points up to just two points up and that gave Halifax a lift back into the game.

“We just went away from what worked for us in the first half and, ultimately, we just didn’t offer enough. We went into our shell and we became very, very basic which is unlike us.”

Asked what he thought went well for his Batley side in the first half, Lingard replied:

“I thought our back five were really good, quick at playing the ball and then rolling Halifax’s middles back, tired them out and made them do repeat efforts. I thought we did that really well and we got a lot of joy from that. We got a few set restarts and penalties as well.

“Ultimately, in the second half, we didn’t do it often enough. It was a simplistic game plan because we just wanted to get into the game to start with. We had a real solid first 20 minutes after going four points down after a couple of minutes.”

In terms of the second half performance, Lingard said:

“Maybe Jim Meadows was impacted a bit by the first pass that he threw in the second half where Walmsley intercepted it and went the full length. Maybe that impacted on his decision making a little bit in that he didn’t want to throw that pass even though he is very, very good at it.

“But I thought we were lacking that little bit of confidence just to play our shapes. We know what our shapes are and we are very good at doing it and we have scored points the last couple of seasons playing those shapes. There are no issues with that.

“We just didn’t seem to drop into the position and play the shapes often enough. The big set for me was the one where we got a repeat set for a penalty on offside and we had three carries and a dummy half scoot five metres off the line and it was just poor, just really poor decision making.

“But it’s up to us now to dust ourselves off and put in a professional performance next week in the cup.”

On Alistair Leak making his 200th appearance for the Bulldogs, Lingard said:

“He is outstanding, in whatever role he plays, like last week he was the only 9 we had out on the field and he played 80 minutes and then this week he started on the bench. So in whatever role he plays he is just dynamite.

“Over the last five or six seasons, when he has become an established 9, I think he has been one of the most consistent performers in the Championship. He is one of those players where you scratch your head and wonder why a Super League club hasn’t had a look at him and taken a gamble.

“Fortunately for Batley, no-one has done that. We’ve managed to keep him here for 200 games and I am sure there are many more to come. I was disappointed we couldn’t get the win for him but really proud of what he has done individually and for Batley.”