Championship round up: Batley Bulldogs and Dewsbury Rams defeated in Round 7

The Bulldogs were looking to back up last weekend’s nervy 22-18 win at home to York Knights with another set of two points in Cumbria. And, by half-time, they had put themselves in pole position after gaining a 14-12 advantage thanks to converted tries from Dale Morton and Adam Gledhill as well as a Josh Woods penalty.

However, the Raiders, who only failed to have the lead in the contest for about 13 minutes throughout, hit back in the second half through James Greenwood and Razor Silva.

Barrow took the lead after only six minutes thanks to a try from Luke Cresswell down the left wing but the Bulldogs, without record-breaker Ben White - who missed his first game after 109 consecutive appearances for the club due to an ankle injury - and in-form Alistair Leak, levelled through Morton’s interception try.

Matt Costello restored the home side’s lead though after collecting a high kick from Brad Walker, with Ryan Shaw’s conversion making it 12-6 - with just 16 minutes on the clock.

A spell of Bulldogs pressure followed with Gledhill powering over to gain parity once again.

And Mark Moxon’s men nudged in front for the first time two minutes before the half-time hooter thanks to a Woods penalty.

But Batley failed to build on their advantage in the second half and they fell behind in the 51st minute when Greenwood touched down after a lovely kick from Walker and Silva sealed the winner nine minutes from time, bustling past three Batley defenders on his way over the line.

On Saturday evening, Dewsbury Rams suffered their sixth Championship defeat out of seven games at the start of the 2024 season despite putting in a spirited effort against a full-time Toulouse side.

In what was Paul March’s first game in charge following the resignation of Dale Ferguson in midweek, the Rams, impressively, led 19-10 at half-time. However, their efforts could not be sustained in the second half as the French outfit recorded a 38-21 victory, leaving Dewsbury bottom of the table.

Toulouse had made an inconsistent start to the season with only two wins out of their first six games before they made the trip to West Yorkshire.

However, they made the perfect start when Maxime Stefani charged over from close range to give Toulouse an early lead.

The Rams, despite their lowly position, responded immediately courtesy of Travis Corion who collected an Ollie Greensmith offload off the floor to get them back into the game.

Maintaining pressure, Toulouse struck back when Mathieu Jussaume finished off a flowing move under the posts to give the visitors a six-point cushion.

However, Dewsbury hit back again when Corion, who had brilliantly intercepted a loose pass and ran 60 metres, finally got over the line before another Toulouse error was punished by Owen Restall after great work from Jacob Hookem.

A Hookem drop goal gave the Rams a nine-point advantage at the break but Toulouse wiped that lead out at the start of the second half thanks to Stefani’s second of the evening and Olly Ashall-Bott slicing through the Dewsbury defence.

A Calum Turner penalty, however, did put the Rams back ahead but it was a lead they could only cling onto until the 65th minute when Anthony Marion crossed to put Toulouse back in front. Jake Shorrocks and Damel Diakhate then both crossed in the final ten minutes to end the Rams’ hopes.

New head coach Paul March said after his first game: “Effort wise I thought we were outstanding today, but I think we were on the end of a big penalty count against us today and that’s just taken a bit too much out of the boys and the game’s got away from us.

“But I do think that the lads should be confident going into these next few games because we’ve just run a full-time side very close there.”

The game also marked the unveiling of the ‘Mike Stephenson MBE South Stand’ which was opened by the former Dewsbury legend himself.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Featherstone Rovers beat Halifax Panthers, Bradford Bulls won at Swinton Lions, Widnes Vikings edged Doncaster 16-14 and Whitehaven beat York 36-16 away.

In Friday evening’s top of the table clash, Wakefield Trinity retained their unbeaten start to the season with a 36-10 win at Sheffield Eagles.