We are not a dirty team, says Sheffield Eagles boss

Sheffield Eagles director Mark Aston says he has no complaints with the end result as his side lost their unbeaten start to the season at Featherstone Rovers.
Eagles' players celebrate a Blake Broadbent tryEagles' players celebrate a Blake Broadbent try
Eagles' players celebrate a Blake Broadbent try

The Eagles missed an opportunity to move top of the Betfred Championship, with their task made all the harder after Blake Broadbent was sent off just before the interval.

Aston’s side were still in the game at the mid-point of the second half, but James Davey was sent to the bin allowing Featherstone to stretch clear and inflict a first defeat of the season on the visitors.

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Aston had no complaints over the end result, stating his side didn’t live up to their recent high standards.

“I have no qualms about the result,” he told The Star. “The sending off, well I'd like to have another look at it but it didn't look great. I thought that some of the things we did, some of the penalties we gave away were silly. We are not a dirty team, I think we gave away eight penalties which is not massive, but we killed ourselves with some of the things we did. We gave them a couple of penalties, then there's a mistake, and they score three tries off the back of it.”

Broadbent was dismissed for a tip-tackle on Featherstone’s Josh Hardcastle, but the 12-man Eagles bagged a try just before the interval to narrow the gap.

Jack Bussey also spent time in the bin at the start of the second-half, and whilst it was temporarily 12-a-side, Ryan Millar’s second try moved the Eagles within two points.

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Once back up to a full 13, the home side rallied and pulled clear at the end to maintain their 100% home record.

The sending-off was a big tuning point, and Aston acknowledged that whilst he believed there was no malice in the challenge, it didn’t look great on first glance.

“It didn't look good,” Aston said.

“Knowing the kid, which I do, I can say that there's no malice in it. I think it probably looked worse than what it is, I'll have to look at it again if I'm honest. 

“Certainly it is something we could have done without, that's for sure. We needed everyone on board, but I suppose the positive from that is we did get back into the game.”