Eagles book spot in AB Sundecks 1895 Cup Semi Final

The Eagles held a six point at the lead at the break after originally going in front through tries from Ben Jones-Bishop and Joel Farrell, before a Ben White finish for the visitors closed the gap in what proved to be a tight first half in South Yorkshire.

Kris Welham added a third try for the Eagles fourteen minutes into the second half, before Batley cut the deficit once again through Kieran Buchanan’s try out wide, but Jack Hansen’s late solo-try and a Cory Aston penalty sealed the win for Mark Aston’s men, setting up a semi-final tie away at York Knights in May.

Aston named an unchanged starting thirteen for the visit of Batley, with only Hansen returning to the interchange bench in place of Aaron Murphy.

The hosts led inside six minutes as the ball was spread out wide towards the right flank, before Jones-Bishop powered past three Batley defenders to score his second try of the season.

Aston added the conversion from the touchline, the first of five successive kicks for the afternoon for the Eagles half-back.

The lead was doubled just short of the twenty-minute mark as Aston’s low grubber kick was met by Joel Farrell, who out muscled Elliot Kear and raced down to score under the sticks.

Batley responded with a try on the half-hour mark as the ball was played back inside from the right edge to White following a contested catch in the air, and the visiting half-back spotted gap in the Eagles defence to scoot through and touch down to score to cut back the score line.

Welham added the Eagles’ third try of the afternoon fourteen minutes into the second half as the experienced centre spotted a gap straight from a scrum and latched onto Anthony Thackeray’s inside ball before beating three Batley defenders to touch down and score.

Buchanan dived over in the right corner for Batley to score, cutting the Eagles’ lead to only eight points, but Sheffield went on to score a further eight points in the final ten minutes to run out as comfortable winners at Olympic Legacy Park.

After Josh Woods’ attempted pass to the left missed his runner, Hansen collected the loose-ball and raced away from the halfway line under the sticks, before Aston added a late penalty to secure a 26-10 win for the Eagles, which sets up a trip for the Eagles to the LNER Community Stadium to face York Knights in May’s semi-final tie.

The winner of that tie will take on either Bradford Bulls or Wakefield Trinity in the AB Sundecks 1895 Cup final at Wembley Stadium on the 8th June.

Sheffield Eagles: Marsh, Jones-Bishop, Welham, Glover, Dawson-Jones, Aston, Thackeray, Battye, Halafihi, Dickinson, Foster, J.Farrell, Gwaze

Interchanges: Liu, Roberts, Hansen, Clark

18th Man: Murphy

Tries: Jones-Bishop (6’), J.Farrell (17’), Welham (54’), Hansen (76’)

Conversions: Aston (5/5)

Batley Bulldogs: Butterworth, Kear, Buchanan, Senior, J.Burton, White, Woods, Gledhill, Leak, Cooper, Manning, Walshaw, Moore

Interchanges: Brown, Flynn, Ward, O.Burton

18th Man: Blake

Tries: White (30’), Buchanan (69’)

Conversions: Woods (1/2)

Referee: M.Griffiths

Attendance: 727