‘A little bit of quality shone through at the end’ - Mark Moxon ‘proud’ of Batley Bulldogs’ 'effort' in Challenge Cup defeat

The Tigers, led by former Batley head coach Craig Lingard, scored 14 unanswered points down the famous Mount Pleasant slope in the second half to seal their quarter final place after the Bulldogs - who led 8-0 and 14-10 - had threatened to spring a surprise in a thrilling first half.

After the 28-14 defeat, which was played in gusty conditions, Lingard’s successor, Moxon, proudly said:

“I am delighted with their efforts and I am really proud of them. I am proud of every single one of them and I am proud to lead the group.

“Ultimately a little bit of quality shone through at the end. It was a great effort and a great contest.

“But with the slope and the wind, whoever was going down the hill was going to have the upper hand in terms of possession and territory. It was always going to be that way. We lost the toss, so it was downhill first.

“But rugby is rugby, no matter who you are playing. If it’s Castleford Tigers or Castleford Lock Lane, rugby is about field position and playing in the right areas of the field.

“We talked about completing our sets, building pressure down there and that is exactly what we did and points came. We got the points and it shows we’re good enough to score points against anybody I believe. I was really pleased we were able to get off to a decent start.”

However, just as Batley looked to take their 14-10 lead - given to them thanks to Dane Manning and Brandon Moore tries - into half-time, Cas struck on the hooter to level the game.

“It is a habit we are kind of making for ourselves,” admitted Moxon who witnessed something similar in the Featherstone Rovers defeat last Sunday. “That gave them a bit of a leg up just before half time which we could have done without.

“We would have had a lead to defend in the second half. It wasn’t to be but I was really proud of the effort.”

Moxon admitted before the game that the last-16 cup tie was a “free hit” for his players against a side which had lost their opening five games of the new Super League season.

He said: “There was no pressure whatsoever for us. All the pressure was on Castleford. But I am pleased for Linners, there is no doubt about that. He came into this game with loads of pressure on him I’m guess, so I’m really pleased they have got off the mark.

“There were a few ex-Batley lads out there and it’s pleasing to see them at a Super League club. Luke Hooley, Josh Hodson, Jack Broadbent, Sam Wood who didn’t play today and Samy Kibula who was kicking about.

“It was really pleasing to see and it shows there is a pathway from Batley for the lads who do want to move on and be full time professionals.

“They are also our dual reg partners so there is a connection there. We’re already talking about potential players because we were a little bit light today. We were down to our last 18, 19 players, so we’re speaking about that all the time.

“I’m delighted they have got off the mark but I would have preferred it if it wasn’t against us!”