Hat-trick hero George Griffin inspires Sheffield Eagles to fourth straight league win
Third straight home win for Sheffield Eagles
George Griffin claimed a hat-trick as Sheffield Eagles made it four consecutive Betfred Championship victories on Sunday afternoon with a dominant 38-12 win over Workington Town at the MEPS International Home of Football Stadium.
Fresh from last week's dramatic last-gasp victory over Salford, Craig Lingard's side returned to Dronfield looking to continue their impressive recent form, with Conor Fitzsimmons making his first appearance since March and Harry Bowes moving into the hooker role in place of Corey Johnson.
Despite their recent momentum, it was the visitors who made the brighter start. Workington took the lead after just nine minutes when Jamie Doran crossed, silencing the home crowd with an early breakthrough.
The Eagles, however, wasted little time in responding. Griffin crashed over from close range to level the scores before Billy Walkley's hard work earned Sheffield a penalty in good field position. From the resulting pressure, Alex Foster powered over beneath the posts to hand the hosts the lead heading into the interval.
Sheffield emerged for the second half with renewed intensity and extended their advantage just two minutes after the restart when Kai Morgan forced his way over.
The hosts continued to dominate possession and territory, and Griffin grabbed his second try of the afternoon on the hour mark to put the result firmly in Sheffield's control at 22-6.
Workington briefly threatened to make a contest of it when Callum Phillips crossed with 15 minutes remaining, but any hopes of a comeback were quickly ended by a devastating late burst from the Eagles.
Kieran Gill crossed out wide for his ninth try of the season before Griffin completed a deserved hat-trick with another powerful finish.
Morgan then added his second try of the afternoon in the closing seconds to complete an emphatic 38-12 victory.
The result extends Sheffield's winning run to four league matches and continues their climb up the Betfred Championship table ahead of next Sunday's home clash with Rochdale Hornets (3pm KO).