For resurgent Dewsbury this was another big step to Championship safety with three invaluable points with a 36-16 win, but for Batley it was definitely a case of ‘after the Lord Mayor’s show’.
With Whitehaven losing the Rams are now seven points clear of the drop zone with just three games left.
Meanwhile the Bulldogs still have an
outside chance of reaching the play-offs but must return to the form that saw them win the Northern Rail Cup so brilliantly last weekend.
Batley’s hard-earned reputation for having a strong, solid defence was blown away as Dewsbury, who have been coming along steadily after a terrible start to the season, simply blew it away, scoring five tries along the way.
The destroyers in chief were the home pack and Dom Brambani at half-back. All credit to the Rams coach for keeping a clear head with all the success happening across the valley.
The game began with all the typical tough tackling one would expect from this ancient derby.
There was some confrontational stuff from pumped-up Batley powerhouse Sean Hesketh and the big Dewsbury prop Keegan Hirst as the tempo gradually lifted and the players warmed up.
The in-form Hesketh went close as he was held on the home line but out of the blue winger Austin Buchanan burst clear from his own 20-metre line.
He was chased by former Ram Ian Preece and it looked all over a try, but the Batley winger stuck to his task and nailed Buchanan on the Batley line, forcing him to lose the ball in the in-goal area.
That warmed the crowd up and when top forward Rob Spicer was hit high in a tackle, Dom Brambani stepped up to kick the Rams into a two-point lead on 15 minutes.
Batley stormed back and Kris Lythe found Josh Griffin with a super long pass and the Batley centre reached across the tryline to score an unconverted try on 20 minutes.
Both teams were finding it difficult to understand the actions of the French referee, as were the spectators, and for the first time in my experience I heard the announcer ask the spectators to stop verbally harassing the badly out-of-depth official.
Great support work by Anthony England and James Lockwood took play to near the Bulldogs line and Brambani accepted Luke Blake’s neat pass to step away from two tacklers and reach out to plant the ball under the bar, the same player converting.
Batley powered up field and the ball went via Lythe, Ash Lindsey and Paul Handforth to Mark Toohey, whose experience and strength took him over for a fine try converted well by Gareth Moore on 30 minutes.
Dewsbury grabbed the lead again when, on 38 minutes, he raced diagonally from the scrum base to dive in by the flag for an unconverted try.
Two minutes later the Rams went further ahead when Spicer released Scott Turner inside his own 20-metre area. He surged 50 metres in no time and his inside pass saw the very nimble James Craven hold off the chasing Batley cover to dive over for a great unconverted try and the hosts were 16-10 up at half-time.
Brambani kicked two penalty goals in the 42nd and 50th minutes and as Batley began to take command he converted a strong try by Luke Stenchion, who had charged on to a Blake short pass to crash over.
It was all going Dewsbury’s way as Bryn Powell caught a high Brambani kick to score an unconverted try to take the score to 30-10 and Brambani again on 70 minutes landed a penalty goal.
The Rams half-back then hit a 40/20 that kept Dewsbury on the attack but Hesketh and Tommy Gallagher worked hard to keep the Bulldogs moving forward the end and Handforth nipped in for a consolation try, converted by Moore, before Craven brought the game to its end with a brilliant solo unconverted try to give Dewsbury a happy weekend.

Dewsbury: James Craven 7; Bryn Powell 7; Alex Bretherton 7; Scott Turner 7; Austin Buchanan 7; Pat Walker 7; Dom Brambani 9; Keegan Hirst 8; Luke Blake 8; Anthony England 8; Rob Spicer 8; James Lockwood 8; Ed Barber 7. Subs: Mike Emmett 6; Luke Stenchion 7; Josh Tonks 6; Danny Flowers: N/U.
Tries: Brambani 25, 38, Craven 40, 80, Stenchion 45, Powell 55.
Goals: Brambani 6.

Batley: Johnny Campbell 6; Alex Brown 6; Mark Toohey 7; Josh Griffin 6; Ian Preece 6; Paul Handforth 6; Gareth Moore 6; Byron Smith 7; Kris Lythe 7; Sean Hesketh 8; Jason Walton 6; Chris Buttery 6; Ash Lindsey 7. Subs: Mick Govin 6; Tommy Gallagher 7; Craig Potter 7; David Toothill 6. Tries: Griffin 20. Toohey 30. Handforth 77.
Goals: Moore 2

Referee: Mohammed Drizza (France) / HT: 16-10 / Pens: 19-9 / Weather: Warm / Sin Bin: None / Sent Off: None / MOTM: Dom Brambani (Rams) / Attendance 1,935 / Match Rating 4/5.