Heavy Woollen rivals paired together in tasty Challenge Cup fifth round clash

Heavy Woollen neighbours Dewsbury Rams and Batley Bulldogs will meet in the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup fifth round.
Dewsbury will entertain Batley in the Challenge Cup fifth round.Dewsbury will entertain Batley in the Challenge Cup fifth round.
Dewsbury will entertain Batley in the Challenge Cup fifth round.

Dewsbury swept aside League One side Newcastle Thunder 36-8 last Friday, while Batley earned a terrific 34-16 victory over Toulouse and the Heavy Woollen rivals were paired together in Tuesday’s fifth round draw.

The tie will take place at Tetley’s Stadium on Sunday April 23 (3pm) and will be the second derby in nine days between the sides.

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Dewsbury host Batley in the first of three Kingstone Press Championship games on Good Friday (April 14), with that game kicking off at 1pm.

Batley were without several key players for the trip to France but coach Matt Diskin was delighted with his side’s performance, saying: “We went over there with only one half-back and played extremely well. I was very proud of them and I don’t think anybody should take anything away from them. It was a great result.”

Diskin felt Bulldogs learned lessons from their league defeat in France, adding: “We reviewed it and looked at where we could improve. We didn’t handle the occasion and we got embarrassed a bit.

“Ever since the draw was made the boys had been looking forward to going back over there and trying to prove a point.

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“We have made such an inconsistent start we knew we needed to improve and we made a really positive step towards that.”

Dewsbury counterpart Glenn Morrison admitted the Rams dressing room was buzzing after his side’s first win of the season against Newcastle

Morrison said: “I don’t think we’ve been too far away, but playing under pressure tightens everybody up. We played like we trained, put some good plays on and scored some good tries. We deserved it and we will take some confidence out of it.

“We’ve been working on things and the boys realise if we stick to what we’ve trained to do we can break teams down and put some points on the board.”

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Pick of the other Challenge Cup ties sees Canadian newcomers Toronto Wolfpack facing a trip to Super League side Salford Red Devils.

Challenge Cup fifth round draw: Leigh Centurions v Hull KR, Featherstone Rovers v Oldham, Leeds Rhinos v Doncaster, Salford Red Devils v Toronto Wolfpack, Whitehaven or Oxford v Halifax, Dewsbury Rams v Batley Bulldogs, Huddersfield Giants v Swinton Lions, York City Knights v Barrow Raiders.