‘It’s a nice one to tick off’ - Craig Lingard revels in first win at Odsal after Batley Bulldogs beat Bradford Bulls

The win was Lingard’s first ever at the venue as a coach, having never played there as a player, and was only Batley’s third success there since 1972. It was also the Bulldogs’ first win over a top five side during the 2023 campaign, while it also signalled the Bulls’ first home defeat of the season.

After the impressive 21-16 win, Lingard said:

“I am really pleased. We said as a group this week that we had not beaten a team in the top five yet this season. And Bradford have been playing really well, particularly at home. This is their first defeat at home so we knew it was going to be tough coming here today.

“Two seasons ago, when we got to the semi-finals, we didn’t beat a top five side until the last game of the season, which was Halifax, whereas last year we beat every single team in the top five with the exception of Leigh.

“We know for us to climb the table we have got to be ticking these victories off teams who will be looking to get into that top six. To get the first one today is hopefully going to give us that confidence to move forward.

“It is a difficult place to come to. It’s the first time I’ve ever won at Odsal. There’s a few of our players that have said exactly the same. It’s a nice one to tick off.”

Explaining why Odsal is a tough place for visiting teams to play, as well as revealing how the resulting changes to Batley’s game plan affected the game, Lingard said:

“A lot is made about the dimensions of the pitch but you can’t get away from that, you have just got to change the way that you play and the game plan that you’ve got.

“We said that we can’t play expansive rugby today and how you set your points up on the field is very different to a normal sized pitch.

“We knew that today was all about doing the basics of rugby league really well, which was defending tough, defending aggressively, completing sets and carrying hard. I think they did that for the majority of the game today.

“I don’t think it would have been a pretty game to watch but it was a game for the purists of rugby league. That is what games are about now sometimes. A lot is made about rugby league and scoring points with flashy tries and wingers diving in the corner and scoring these outstanding tries.

“But sometimes you have got to play a game of rugby league where you just complete, defend tough and kick well. And that is what this game was about. I am just pleased that our guys did that really well today.”

And while the Bulls outscored the Bulldogs in terms of tries, three to two, the difference proved to be in the kicking game, with on loan Leeds Rhinos star Luke Hooley successfully booting 12 points.

“There were a couple of other times when we could have taken the two,” Lingard said. “We took the two when the penalty and the yellow card came. It only took us four points in front but we thought it would take the sting out of the game.

“Sometimes when you are playing against 12 men the first thing you think is about going wide and score some pretty tries, so we decided to regroup and take the easy two points and take it from there.

“I thought it was going to backfire when Bradford scored in the corner to go two points in front. Fortunately for us we managed to get through at the end.”

The thrilling win comes on the back of their Good Friday defeat against table-toppers Featherstone Rovers, although Batley have now not lost successive league games since round three in February.

“It’s important that you do that,” admitted Lingard. “You can get into a rut sometimes. If you are losing games you will find a way to lose a game rather than win it.”

He added: “We are only a quarter of the way through the season and the league table is starting to sort itself out. Every game you win it puts you up and every game you lose you have got to win another two games to get to where you would have been had you not lost that game.”