DODWORTH Miners rugby league side are set to play in a play-off final at Batley Bulldogs’ Fox’s Biscuits Stadium on Saturday as they look to continue their rise up the English league structure.
They won 38-6 at home to West Bowling Academy in their Yorkshire Division Two semi-final on Saturday and will now play league winners East Hull in the final from 1pm.
They are hoping to repeat last season when they won the Division Three play-off final Featherstone Rovers’ ground.
Captain Adam Edwards said: “It’s a big achievement and, as captain, it’s a massive privilege to walk the team out at two good stadiums in the play-off finals.
“I don’t think it’s ever happened in past for the club and this will be the highest the club has been in at least 15 years.
“The last time we played East Hull, we were in front for the majority of the game but a lapse in concentration gave them a try then they scored a drop goal to win by a point.
“They are definitely team we can beat. We know how to beat them
“They’ve beaten us by one point, two points and five points.”
Regardless of the result, Dodworth are expecting to play in Division One next season after finishing second – giving them a third straight promotion.
Edwards said: “Usually the winner of the league and play-offs both go up.
“But East Hull have won the league and they are in the play-off final.
“So we think we’re pretty much guaranteed to go up.”
Dodworth are hoping to eventually reach the Premier Division, the highest level in the Yorkshire League, then the National Conference League (NCL) which has four divisions below the Championship and Super League.
Edwards said: “In Division One, the target will be play-offs again at least.
“The Premier Division is our end goal with this team.
“Then we start getting a conveyer belt of very talented juniors coming through and eventually we want to reach NCL level.
“We have really, really talented juniors who are getting international recognition and interest from clubs like Bradford Bulls.”
Tries by Joe Ashworth, Daniel Njoh and Tom Hardwick, plus conversions by Max Lunn and Joe Perry, put Dodworth 18-0 up.
West Bowling replied with a try before half-time but Kieran Hyde scored a 50-metre interception try while Njoh, Ashworth and Lunn touched down with Perry again converting.
Edwards said: “We played them at the start of the season and beat them by about 60 points, then we played them away and only won by 16.
“So we didn’t know what to expect. We fielded a strong side and everybody turned up.
“We played well from the get go, we were tackling and running harder than them and, from 20 minutes, you could tell they weren’t up to it.”
