Rugby League: Sheffield Eagles begin life in Wakefield with win over Toulouse
Mark Aston’s exiles recovered from an early setback to record their first victory of the campaign, marking their stay at Belle Vue with an impressive display.
Aston, who called upon Leigh trio Lachlan Burr, Jamie Acton and Sam Hopkins as part of their dual registration agreement, will have feared the worst early on, but his side recovered from a slow opening to get their Championship campaign up and running.
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Hide AdThe Eagles were forced to withstand some heavy pressure in the opening 10 minutes, and they finally buckled as the French side pushed into an early lead.
On 13 minutes the Toulouse forwards made inroads allowing Rhys Curran to bag the first try of the afternoon, but the visitors failed to add the extras.
The Eagles stemmed the early flow before stunning the visitors by going in front. After winning a penalty close to the Toulouse line, Burr bagged a try for home side with Simon Brown’s conversion edging Aston’s side in front.
Buoyed by their success, the Eagles grew in confidence and strengthened their lead when Matt James crossed the whitewash underneath the sticks, with Brown again converting.
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Hide AdThe hosts were now warming to their new surroundings as they penned the visitors inside their own half.
With half-time approaching, the Eagles won another penalty with Brown opting to take the points to stretch the lead to 10 points. And in the dying seconds it got better for Aston’s side who benefited from an error from the visitors, allowing Matty Fozard an easy try, converted by Brown.
It was a case of deja vu at the start of the second half when Toulouse pinned the Eagles back, but again it was the hosts who struck. Menzie Yere crashed over to further extend the advantage, with Dane Chisholm converting.
Toulouse fought back with a converted try from Bastien Ader, before pinning the Eagles back once again.
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Hide AdAston’s side were forced into a rearguard action but were breached again through a Kalausa Leha try, but the visitors missed the conversion.
The Eagles finished the job late on with a Chisholm penalty and a Garry Lo try as Aston’s side started life at Belle Vue with a victory.