With its glittering history of welcoming A-list luminaries like Louis Armstrong and Tina Turner to its world-famous Variety Club, Batley could be forgiven for failing to string up the bunting when Super League strugglers Castleford roll into town on Saturday.
In fact, the perennially over-achieving Championship club are relishing the prospect of a Betfred Challenge Cup sixth round clash against a side whose head coach comfortably eclipses all those entertainment titans in the West Yorkshire town’s affections.
Craig Lingard’s career as first a player then head coach of the Bulldogs left such an impression that he has a section of terracing named after him at the club’s famously wonky Mount Pleasant stadium, and his departure for Cas last year was never going to threaten those bonds.
The historic knockout competition, of which Batley were the first winners in 1897, gifted Lingard an immediate return to the club whom he helped reach an improbable Championship Grand Final in 2022, as well as their first ever trip to Wembley in the 1895 Cup last year.
Small wonder his successor as head coach, Mark Moxon, who had previously served as an assistant for 12 years including the last three under Lingard, sees no reason to rip up the well-established blueprint that has served the unassuming club so well.
“We don’t really evolve at Batley,” Moxon told the PA news agency. “It’s about continuation, no shadow of a doubt. We live within our means year after year, and we continue to compete in a division in which the other teams have all historically spent much more money than we have.
“Craig is a bit of a club legend, and he had great success here that led him to Super League. I learned a lot from him as I continued my development. It’s important to maintain the culture that Craig was a part of. It’s all about working hard and togetherness, and I guess that’s the key to our success.”
Having pushed Featherstone close in their first game of the new Championship season on Sunday, Batley have every right to fancy their chances against a Castleford side who have made a dismal start to their new Super League campaign, failing to pick up a point from their first five games.
And while Lingard will draw on his experience to equip his players to cope with Mount Pleasant’s precipitous pitch, Moxon believes it could still prove a crucial factor in the underdogs holding their own against their top-level opponents.
“Craig might know all about the pitch but he’s not playing,” added Moxon. “There will be a few lads amongst them who have not played at Batley before. We are used to teams coming here and coming out of the tunnel and they can’t believe the steepness of the hill.
“Obviously we’re both very aware of each other’s game-plan. They’re going to be stronger and fitter than us, but the longer we are able to compete they might get nervous. It’s the kind of tie that you relish, and magic things can happen in sport.”
A full-time firefighter at Leeds-Bradford airport, Moxon has no immediate ambition to follow Lingard into the elite, and is instead content to work to create new memories at a club and town where Hollywood stars and Hollywood-style scripts are intertwined.
“I’ve got a job that I like and it’s secure, and the jump to go full-time is a big step, especially in professional sport where it can be quite fickle,” added Moxon.
“I love it here at Batley. It’s been a long time since we got anywhere near to winning the Challenge Cup, and the next best thing is to draw a Super League team at home. It should be a great occasion.”
Calabar High and Cedar Grove Academy crowned Rugby League U14 and U16 champions
Rugby League Jamaica concluded its U14 and U16 High School 13-a-side Championships on Friday, April 26, at Campion College. In U14 action, five-time defending champions Calabar High faced off against BB Coke High, whilst in U16, Calabar battled last year’s beaten finalist, Cedar Grove Academy, for top honours.
In the U14s, Calabar overcame a spirited BB Coke outfit 8-4, to grab their sixth consecutive hold on the trophy. Jahir Brown scored both tries for the winners, whilst Tyrell Scott got the consolidation try for BB Coke.
Cedar Grove then won their maiden U16 title with a clinical defensive display, holding off Calabar 14-2. Elvis Simms led the victors with eight points from two tries with support from Steven Constantine with a try while Nathan Brown kicked a goal for two points. Derone Plummer kicked a goal to give Calabar their only points.
Commenting on his team’s performance in both finals, Oshane Edie, head coach of Calabar said, “Our U14s are a new young group who just started playing, it’s a great result to get the win and bodes well for the future. Throughout the season Devontae Molar and Amore Anderson were good for us, their exceptional play along with their teammates gave us the victory. As for our U16s, they had a good season, but I think we were a bit overconfident in the finals and paid the price. Overall, the rugby league programme at Calabar remains strong and is looking good for the future.”
Cedar Grove’s winning coach Antonio Baker attributed victory to hard work stating, “Winning the U16 crown is a culmination of years of work that has finally paid off. We’ve been close on several occasions before, including past year, when we were beaten finalists, but this season our focus was spot on, and we are happy for the school.”
In other action on the day, Kingston College snatched 3rd place over Campion College 6-4. Armani Burnette with the try for the winners and Donnoy Harris kicking a goal. Meanwhile, Josah Bennett bagged Campion’s lone try.
In Girls action, BB Coke won the final 9-a-side tournament of the school year, Grove Academy 16-8 and 16-4 in a best of three clash.
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Leeds twice blew a double-figure lead as Huddersfield hit back to claim a spectacular 30-24 Betfred Super League win at Headingley.
Adam Clune burst across the halfway line in the dying stages to put the seal on a dramatic win that piles the pressure on Leeds head coach Rohan Smith after the Rhinos’ fourth home loss in a row.
The hosts led 12-2 after a forgettable first half but spectacularly combusted after the break and handed the Giants the chance to build on last week’s brilliant Challenge Cup quarter-final win at Catalans Dragons.
Tries from Paul Momirovski and the returning David Fusitu’a had given the Rhinos a sizeable lead after a relatively serene first period in which Jake Connor kicked the Giants’ only points, and which offered no indication of the drama to follow.
It was a different story early in the second half as Leeds lost then duly retrieved their double-figure lead before the hour-mark.
Out of nowhere, Esan Marsters shrugged off three feeble challenges on the Leeds left to grab Huddersfield’s opener, then three minutes later, Adam Swift pummelled the same flank to set up a diving effort in the corner from Elliot Wallis to improbably haul Huddersfield level.
Only a poor night with the boot by Jake Connor – who would nail just one of his six conversions – prevented Huddersfield gaining a stranglehold and the Rhinos were quick to respond, Momirovski crossing for his second of night then Jarrod O’Connor charging through a flat-footed Giants rearguard to put them back in control.
Rhyse Martin’s fourth straight kick look Leeds 12 points clear but home hopes that they had learned their lesson were spectacularly disproved as more shocking defence allowed Swift to squirm over from dummy-half and keep his side in with a shout, eight adrift with 15 minutes remaining.
Incredibly within three minutes Huddersfield did it again as Swift was again allowed to make inroads before feeding Harvey Livett for his side’s fourth, cutting the Leeds lead to four.
Huddersfield were level in the 70th minute, Clune’s ball to the right was brilliantly touched on by Connor for Kevin Naiqama to surge over, but Connor’s problems with the boot continued as another missed kick left the game all-square at 24-24.
As Leeds collapsed, Miller was pushed almost 10 metres over his own try-line and his subsequent drop-out failed to go 10 metres, giving Connor the simplest of chances to send Huddersfield two points clear from in front of the posts.
Clune put the seal on a remarkable evening when Naiqama intercepted a pass from Cameron Smith and survived shouts for a knock-on as he juggled the ball out to his team-mate to finish the job.
Ashton Golding relishing his ‘Grand Final’ return to Headingley with Giants
Ashton Golding has vowed to put thoughts of overdue silverware aside as he prepares for a match that means more to him than any other when Huddersfield face Leeds in the Betfred Super League at Headingley on Friday.
For Leeds-born Golding it does not get any bigger than a return to face the Rhinos, his boyhood idols and the club for whom he made more than 50 appearances before making the difficult decision to leave to further his career in 2019.
“This is my personal Grand Final,” Golding told the PA news agency. “There’s no other game in the calendar that beats it. I live two minutes away from Headingley and I love Leeds, it’s my city, I was born there and I will probably die there.
“I’ll follow anyone that plays for any Leeds team. I’m fond of the Rhinos any day I’m not playing them, but as soon as it’s game day against the Rhinos, they’re my enemy and I’m a Giant.”
Having played at full-back for Leeds, Golding has proved a versatile interchange under Ian Watson as he looks to re-establish himself after two years battling a series of minor injuries.
The Giants too have shown signs of rebounding from a disappointing 2023 campaign and go to Headingley on the back of two straight Super League wins plus a stunning 34-6 success over Catalans Dragons in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals on Saturday.
It was a result that raised plenty of eyebrows outside the Giants’ dressing room, but Golding added: “We know our own ability and we don’t need everyone else telling us how good or how bad we are.
“We understood that last year was not reflective of us and the work we had put in. We’ve got a group of good honest players who know they can all depend on each other, and we are excited to find out how far we are able to go.”
Huddersfield will face Warrington in the semi-finals next month as they look to book a second Wembley trip in two years. And victory would finally snag some silverware for Golding, who admits his experience at Leeds, when he was often benched for the biggest games, instilled him with plenty of hunger for more.
“I have absolutely fond memories of playing for the Rhinos, but it is also the experiences when I didn’t play that helped me overcome adversity in certain situations,” Golding said.
“Missing out on the Grand Final in 2017, 18th man in the World Club Challenge, it either makes you or breaks you and I felt like it gave me more. I think it was the best thing that I took away from Leeds and I can’t wait to go back there and play in that brilliant stadium again on Friday night.”
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