Batley Bulldogs suffer last-gasp drop-goal heartache at Salford
Batley Bulldogs suffered the heartache of conceding a last-minute drop-goal as Salford edged a dramatic contest at the CorpAcq Stadium this afternoon.
It was only nine days ago when the Bulldogs themselves earned a last-gasp victory at home to arch-rivals Dewsbury Rams in the Heavy Woollen derby thanks to Josh Woods’ one-pointer.
But the boot was on the other foot today as Leon Hayes, on his debut, nailed an incredible drop-goal from 40 yards to seal a 29-28 victory for the newly-reformed side.
The final intervention came after a pulsating 80 minutes of rugby league action in which the lead changed hands seven times, although the key moment, arguably, was Ben Reynolds’ conversion miss for Jack Hudson’s try which would have put the Bulldogs in front at 30-28 with barely three minutes.
Up to that point, Reynolds had been faultless from the tee, converting tries for Ronan Dixon, Robbie Butterworth, Nyle Flynn and Ben White.
But it left the door open for Hayes, on loan from Warrington Wolves, to be the match-winner.
Salford, formed after the old Red Devils club was wound up in December, opened the scoring through a penalty try after Brad Dwyer was brought down before he could ground the ball.
Dixon produced an immediate response for Batley before Butterworth turned the game on its head moments later.
A Keabe Gilford try and a converted Tom McKinney score put the home side back in front, 16-12, at the break. It could have been more, but James Ford’s men battled well to keep Salford out before the hooter.
It only took the Bulldogs eight minutes to regain their lead after the interval when Flynn crossed but Salford hit back through Dwyer’s second of the afternoon.
There were still 20 minutes left and you did not know which way it was going to go.
You sensed it would be Batley’s day when White’s try, and Reynolds’ kick, put them ahead by two at 24-22 but Jack Bibby had other ideas when he crossed with ten minutes remaining.
It was Salford in the driving seat but they were pegged back to 28-28 thanks to Hudson but Reynolds could not make the conversion.
And then up stepped Hayes to deliver the sucker-punch in the final minute of a thrilling encounter.