Sheffield Eagles return to winning ways against Whitehaven

Sheffield Eagles finally tasted victory at the weekend after a run of defeats

Sheffield Eagles have broken their losing streak with a dominant 50-14 victory against Whitehaven.

Billy Walkley dives over the line to get his second try of the day for Sheffield Eagles. | Jake Borrill

placeholder image — Billy Walkley dives over the line to get his second try of the day for Sheffield Eagles. | Jake Borrill

Craig Lingard made several changes to the squad that lost against Barrow Raiders last weekend, with Greg Eden moving into fullback and pushing Joe Brown back onto the wing, which also replaced Ryan Millar. After Masi Matongo’s injury last weekend, he was swapped for Blake Broadbent. Jack Bussey and Josh Hodson also made appearances as interchanges.

Whitehaven opened the scoring early with a penalty conversion in the 6th minute. Still, they did not hold onto the lead for long, after a great dashing run from Connor Bower gave the Eagles the try to take the lead just a handful of minutes later.

Not long after, the Eagles got another chance in front of the tryline, which Kieran Gill capitalised on after receiving the ball via Alex Foster.

It was the visitors who scored next, though, with a crash over the line from Brad Brennan, which kept Whitehaven in the game for a short while longer.

The next 10 minutes consisted of very strong offensive efforts from both sides, but none were troubling enough to get over the line. That was until Billy Walkley stepped up to secure the advantage for the Eagles, simultaneously achieving his 19th try of this year’s campaign.

The visitors closed out the half with some repeat sets and close encounters with Sheffield’s tryline, but they were unable to break through a tight Eagles defence.

The second half became the host’s chance to showcase their skill even further, as in the first 10 minutes, two rapid successive tries increased their advantage. The first was new signing Greg Eden’s debut try on home turf, and the other was a second of the day for Billy Walkley, bringing his current season tally to 20.

Just moments after their last two, the Eagles came back with energy once again, with an overpowering, clattering try from Lewis Peachey.

The Eagles had hit full throttle by this point, and it did not take long for another addition to their scoreline, with Josh Hodson diving on the ball to score his debut try for the club.

Joe Brown got the chance to jog it into the corner after a great ball from Reiss Butterworth, and despite the visitors following it up with a try from Ben Pearce, the game was already dead and buried by this point.

To close out the game, Greg Eden stepped up once again and got a second try on his debut at the Home of Football stadium, giving the Eagles a rewarding scoreline of 50-14.

Sheffield Eagles’ next fixture will be a clash at home, against Dewsbury Rams on Sunday, the 28th of June (3 pm KO).

Sheffield Eagles: Eden, Brown, Oakes, Gill, Walkley, Morgan, Abdull, Broadbent, Johnson, Reilly, Bower, Foster, Griffin

Interchanges (all used): Hodson, Bussey, Butterworth, Peachey

18th Man: Millar

Tries: Bower (12’), Gill (16’), Walkley (32’, 50’), Eden (47’,77’), Peachey (54’), Hodson (60’), Brown (66’)

Goals: Abdull (2/4), Morgan (5/5)

Whitehaven: Burns, Eccleston, Todd, Bickerdike, Weatherill, Walker, Newbegin, Brown, Holgate, Brennan, Holliday, Pearce, Kellett

Interchanges (all used): Nixon, Pearce, McQuistan, Smith

18th Man: Shackley

Tries: Brennan (21’), Pearce (72’)

Goals: Walker (2/2)

Penalties: Walker (1/1)