Sheffield Eagles fall short in narrow defeat against Barrow Raiders
Sheffield Eagles were edged out by two points in their clash with Barrow Raiders at the weekend
Despite their best efforts, the Eagles came up short in their clash in Cumbria against Barrow Raiders at the weekend, narrowly losing 18-16.
Head Coach Craig Lingard made three changes from the side that lost to London Broncos over a fortnight ago. New signing Greg Eden made his Sheffield debut with an appearance in the interchanges, with Reiss Butterworth joining him on the bench to replace Josh Hodson and then Lennis Ellis moved back to being 18th man to replace Marcus Green.
Both sides tested each other’s mettle from the very beginning of the fixture, with some close encounters with either tryline just coming short due to last-minute errors.
But it was the Eagles that opened the scoring when a penalty was given due to offside, and Jordan Abdull was gifted the chance to kick through an easy two points.
Strong, efficient defence kept the hosts off the scoreline for another 8 minutes, until a penalty for the Raiders let them claw their way towards the Eagles’ tryline, and then Ryan King barged over the line from short range to bring them ahead.
Alex Foster came close to scoring just moments later, but a knock on in the process of grounding the ball kept Sheffield tryless, which was almost immediately preceded by another try for Barrow after Harvey Makin crashed through just beneath the sticks.
A rapid Kieran Gill and Alex Foster break, and a subsequent offload to Billy Walkley, gave the Eagles the try they needed to force their way back into the game.
Building off of this momentum, it didn’t take Sheffield long to get another, with Connor Bower’s drive over the tryline bringing the visitors level just a few minutes before halftime.
Yet again, it was the Eagles that opened the scoring in the second half, with Billy Walkley bagging himself a brace after capitalising on a precision grubber from Jordan Abdull.
It was Barrow who pushed the score back level one last time, when Ellis Robson managed to get his hands on the ball and powered his way over the line.
Despite some more close opportunities for the Raiders, it was a penalty in the final five minutes that pushed them back ahead and gifted them the win.
Sheffield Eagles’ next fixture will be a clash at home against Whitehaven on Sunday, the 21st of June (3pm KO).
Barrow Raiders: Cresswell, Tulman, Teare, Toal, Broadbent, Walker, Johnston, Bullock, Bishop, Walker, Robson, Stack, King
Interchanges (all used): Emslie, Richards, Makin, Forber
18th Man: Watson
Tries: King (18’), Makin (23’), Robson (65’)
Goals: Walker (2/3)
Penalties: Walker (1/1)
Sheffield Eagles: Brown, Millar, Oakes, Gill, Walkley, Morgan, Abdull, Matongo, Johnson, Reilly, Bower, Foster, Griffin
Interchanges (all used): Butterworth, Broadbent, Peachey, Eden
18th Man: Ellis
Tries: Walkley (30’, 46’), Bower (36’)
Goals: Abdull (1/3)
Penalties: Abdull (1/1)