Lingard praises Dale Morton after revealing Bulldogs’ matchwinner wasn't even due to play

As of Saturday morning, Morton was out of the 17-man squad until Keegan Hirst pulled out. And he was only promoted from the bench when Greg Johnson injured himself in the warm-up.

80 minutes of enthralling, topsy-turvy drama later, the winger touched down in the final play for 12-men Batley to secure a memorable 28-23 win over the newly-promoted Cougars, who thought they had won the game moments earlier thanks to Dane Chisholm’s drop goal.

Following the remarkable triumph, Lingard told the Reporter Series:

“Dale wasn’t due to be playing. Keegan Hirst was due to play but he pulled out yesterday morning. Dale then came onto the bench. Then Greg Johnson pulled out in the warm-up and he’s in the starting line-up on that right wing and scores the match-winning try on the last play of the game.

“Just to stay ready and take his opportunity like he did was great. I don’t think I actually saw him put the ball down because I was celebrating early!

“It was probably a game that was brilliant for the neutrals to watch. As a coach, and for the players to play in, it was backwards and forwards and the momentum in the game shifted a few times.

“I felt we got the momentum and managed the game pretty well in the first half. But then we had a lack of discipline and conceded too many penalties to give Keighley that field position and, eventually, a quality team will score points and they did.

“We were happy going in at half-time with the scoreline as it was (8-14) but we weren’t happy with how we started that second half. We didn’t kick off deep enough, we didn’t complete our first set with the ball and then Keighley scored.

“So everything we said at half-time, I thought, is it all out of the window? But we sent a message on for them to stay calm and to stay patient and go through with the game plan that we talked about and they did that.”

Lingard was particularly impressed with his side’s patience, especially playing down the famous Mount Pleasant hill in the second half and chasing a 12-point deficit.

“We have been guilty in previous games, certainly against Swinton and Sheffield, of playing the scoreboard and chasing points,” admitted the Bulldogs’ head coach. “It is quite easy to do that when you’re playing downhill and you’re 12 points down and think you need to score in the next set. But you don’t, you just need to play the hill and play the field better and put yourself in a position where you put the opposition under a bit of fatigue, put them under a bit of stress and hopefully manufacture a break.

“I thought our patience in that second half was really, really good and, ultimately, that has won us the game.

“We didn’t panic, we didn’t try and pass balls that weren’t there and we didn’t try kicks that weren’t there. For 99 per cent of that second half, the players did what the coaching staff asked them to do.”

James Brown, Adam Gledhill and Martyn Reilly all came into the starting 13 as Lingard wanted “an experienced middle unit to get us into the game.” And it certainly helped as the Bulldogs raced into an 8-0 lead, all while trying to keep former Man of Steel, Luke Gale, quiet.

Lingard said: “I thought Keighley were really smart with what they did. They identified that we were putting some pressure on Luke Gale and Dane Chisholm and then they went more direct.

“They brought on Mark Ioane and Brenden Santi and went real direct and started rolling us a little bit. That’s when they were troubling us second phase and with off-loads. So I take my hat off to Keighley for changing their game plan.

“But, playing down hill in the second half, we just stuck to our game plan and won it with the last play of the game.”

There was even drama before Morton’s final act, in which Gale was sin-binned, allowing Kieran Buchanan to score a brace of tries to put Batley 22-20 ahead.

However, after Chisholm kicked a penalty to level the game, the Bulldogs were then reduced to 12 men themselves, just as Gale’s time-out was nearly up, after Lucas Walshaw was yellow carded.

Chisholm took advantage with a precise drop-goal to seemingly earn the Cougars the two points, until Morton’s dramatic intervention.

Trying to sum it up, including his reaction to Walshaw’s punishment, Lingard said:

“Luke Gale got sin-binned and we managed to get ten points in the time he was off the field and that really got us back into the game.

“Lucas Walshaw then got sin-binned and I was spewing with that. Absolutely spewing because the referee’s played it, it’s tackle four, they’re 30 metres off their own line and tackle four done.

“The referee’s not said anything, the player’s stayed down and then he’s suddenly changed his decision from a fair tackle to a penalty and a yellow card.

“And how you can do that, just because a player has stayed down injured, I have no idea. The referee was saying ‘play on, play on, play on’, but the player staying down has changed his decision. That can kill games.

“I was absolutely spewing on the sideline. I let the fourth official and the touch judge know, which is probably not very professional from me.

“But when you’re in a hole sometimes it can kill you. Decisions like that can kill you. I just thought it was a pathetic decision, basically.

“They kicked into touch and got the one point on the very next set. So instead of us retrieving the ball and being in good ball position, we are now 21-20 down and, potentially, staring down the barrel of another defeat.

“You talk about momentum swings - that was a huge momentum swing. But again, the patience which the players showed to stay in the game and go through the processes which we talked about and get the reward of a last play, I take my hat off to them.”

Asked if he genuinely believed his side could sneak a win in those final moments, Lingard replied:

“It’s a difficult one is that because you’ve got 12 men on the field. You're a point down and it’s difficult to create space when you’ve only got 12 men on the field.

“You always want to hold that belief but I guess if you’re a betting man you wouldn’t have put money on us to score. Maybe I needed to have a little bit more faith in our team!”

Lingard also revealed he would be meeting up with opposing head coach - and his former assistant - Rhys Lovegrove this coming week to discuss the game over a coffee. He said:

“I have got a really good relationship with Rhys. We regularly meet up for a coffee and have chats. We’re really close and good friends.

“Rhys will take that. Like every head coach, he is a bit weird. He is quite pragmatic so I don’t think he will take it too badly and he will look for the positives out of that and he will spin it in his favour.

“I will probably have a chat with him this week, meet him for a coffee and go through the game as that’s how we are. Hopefully for Rhys and Keighley, they will bounce back very soon.”