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12-man Eagles hold on to beat Bulldogs
Batley Bulldogs 12 Sheffield Eagles 20
A determined Eagles outfit overcame the sending off of centre Menzie Yere to defend their lead and their line for 14 pulsating minutes to seize the well deserved victory points.
The rugged centre was dismissed for a dangerous tackle after Batley launched a series of attacks down the sloping Mount Pleasant pitch to try to try to close the narrowing gap.
But although Batley crossed the Eagles line four times during the second half the effective Eagles defence made sure that only two players were able to ground the ball cleanly.
And when the Bulldogs went on to commit a series of elementary mistakes they were made to pay as Tim Bergin kicked his fourth goal, a straight forward penalty, to secure victory.
The Eagles had been in the ascendency during the first half as Craig Cook, Mitchell Stringer and Alix Szostak attacked with remarkable speed and force. Guided by half backs Brendon Lindsay and Matty Brooks they swept Batley aside with Cook moving smartly to send Hepworth over for a try converted by Tim Bergin after 14 minutes.
A second came six minutes later when Batley, puzzlingly penalised for passing the ball out of a mid air tackle, were all at sea as full back Missi Taulapapa linked up with Brooks to sear through for a second touchdown which Bergin converted.
And Brooks rode his side's luck on the stroke of half time when he snapped up a loose ball which looked to have been spilled by one of his teammates, and darted over between the sticks. Bergin was delighted to oblige with the easy conversion.
The pressure switched in the second half as Batley, having lost leading pointscorer Gareth Moore with a suspected fractured collarbone, turned to the experience of Tommy Gallagher to direct their attacks.
He did it in style, opening the way for prop Sean Hesketh to score a converted try between the sticks. Eagles were spotting well and tackling hard but it looked as though they would be up against it when Yere was dismissed and a limping Stringer had to be helped off the field with a leg injury shortly afterwards.
But the gallant 12 stuck to their tasks and although Batley scored again as wingman Alex Brown crossed in the corner and Hesketh landed the touchline conversion the Eagles never gave up either on attack or defence. It paid off when the demoralised Batley knocked on at a re-start and then were penalised for holding down. Bergin made sure of victory with the easy penalty goal.
Batley: Campbell; Brown, Griffin, Toohey, Greenwood; Govin, Moore; Smith, Lythe, Hesketh, Buttery, J Gallagher, Lindsay. Substitutes: Martin, T Gallagher, Toothill. Not used- Preece.
Sheffield: Taulapapa; Bergin, Yere, Mossop, Mills; Lindsay, Brooks; Hepworth, Cook, Stringer, Green, Szostak, Exton. Substitutes (all used): Rowe, Corcoran, Haley, Hirst.
Ref: Jamie Leahy (Dewsbury)
Scorers - Batley: Tries: Hesketh, Brown; Goals: Hesketh 2/2; Sheffield: Hepworth, Taulapapa, Brooks.; Goals: Bergin 4/4 Half time: 0-18 Attendance: 747
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Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 9 C to 23 C
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Wind direction: North east
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