Craig Lingard ‘humbled and emotional’ after leading Batley Bulldogs to first ever Wembley appearance

Despite three Challenge Cup triumphs in their 143-year history, Batley have never played at one of sports’ most iconic venues. But after a thoroughly dominant performance against York, in which Josh Hodson, Adam Gledhill and Alistair Leak all scored tries in testing wet conditions, the Bulldogs will now face West Yorkshire rivals Halifax Panthers under the arch on Saturday, August 12.

“It’s quite humbling,” admitted Lingard after the 22-8 win. “The club has not been to Wembley and to be a part of the first group of staff to have taken this club there is really difficult to put into words.

“For me, personally, it has played a massive part in my life and it is really difficult to put into words. It is emotional and something which I will forever be proud of.

“In the first half we were thoroughly dominant, going in three scores up at half time and I thought it was the reward we deserved. We handled everything York threw at us and we executed well and dominated field position and possession.

“The rain did subside before kick off but it was still wet and I thought we handled that pretty well. I was really pleased with how we played but we started the second half a bit sloppy with two sixes in the first three minutes and we were put under a bit of pressure when York came at us.

“But the resilience of the players was there to be seen and they got their just rewards to finally get the trip to Wembley.”

Lingard had admitted he wouldn’t need to say anything to the players before kick off to get them motivated. And he confirmed that his job was “really easy” in the build-up to this eagerly-awaited semi-final. He said:

“We had a really good week at training. We had the volume and the noise at training, it was everything that you want. We didn’t need to energise them at all. We said on Saturday that the group deserves to go to Wembley for what they have achieved andfor what they have done together.

“You don’t always get what you deserve and you have got to earn it. The players earnt that today. As a coaching group it was really easy for us today because the players were so switched on, the concentration was there and the execution was there.

“It was a pleasure to watch that today.”

Lingard, who will leave the club at the end of the season to continue as Castleford Tigers’ assistant coach in a full-time role, thanked the travelling fans for their support in York.

“They were there in numbers,” Lingard said. “There were five buses that went and people coming over on trains and in cars. They created that atmosphere for us.

“We conceded two tries in the second half from the intercept and the scrambled try from the kick but they were singing for Batley loud and proud and it certainly helped us through and helped us maintain that composure to make sure we got the game over the line.

“Hopefully we can have the same support at Featherstone next week, then at Bradford and then obviously at Wembley.”

The head coach also confirmed that the celebrations will be in full swing this evening. He said:

“There will certainly be a few beers tonight. We are certainly going to enjoy it. If you can’t celebrate getting to Wembley, when can you celebrate? Let’s embrace the celebrations and drink the beer!”