Match Reports

Read how the Eagles Senior Academy Are Progressing In 2008

Halifax RLFC Reserves (A) 12th July 2008

The young Eagles side took an early lead through former Hillsborough Hawks youngster Dan Hawksworth, who's impressive celebrations were followed by another former Hawks player Greg Pygott's conversion, giving the Eagles an early lead 12 minutes in.

It took constant pressure and determination from the home side to add their name to the scoresheet on the quarter mark, with Charlesworth crossing for the first of his tries, although the Eagles remained in front as Silcox's conversion bounced off the upright.

The Eagles continued to play some attractive Rugby, whilst Halifax struggled to maintain posession. Mike Roby who was involved in most of the action was the next to score, increasing the visitors margin, although Halifax shortly levelled the scores through James Fairbank's break through and Silcox's conversion as the half hour mark approached.

Eagles half back Jack Malin left the field with a serious injury just before the half time break as Charlesworth broke through the defence to nose the home side ahead just before the break in a tussle that was extremely even, with excellent progress made in attack by Hepworth, Jones and Kesik.

Ed Battye was denied a try under the posts shortly after the re-start and Kesik also had a a score crossed off for a forward pass. The setbacks motivated Halifax and they took control of the proceedings, running in two unanswered tries.

Just before the hour mark, Hepworth was rewarded for his go forward efforts with a try, converted by Pygott, giving the Eagles hope of a comeback. But Halifax capitalised on Sheffield's sloppy tackling, with Durkin breaking through 8 minutes from time to score the final try in a game which showed promise for the young Eagles side.

Halifax: Gavin Stead; James Kershaw; Chris Holroyde; Ben Hinsley; Adam Ryder; Graham Charlesworth; Martin Silcox; James Fairbank; Stuart Proctor; Tom Guinan; Josh Barlow; Iain Davies; Andy Bowman; Brett Durkin; Greg Firth; Shaun Garrod; Ben Bottomley

Scorers:Tries: Ryder,Charlesworth 2; Fairbank; Davies; Durkin. Goals: Silcox 4/6


Sheffield: Mike Roby; Steven Price; Mark Renshaw-Smith; James Parmenter; Frank Wragg; Jack Malin; Greg Pygott; Craig Jones ©; Kyle Kesik; Dan Hawksworth; Aaron Phelps; Ryan Hepworth; Joe Groves; Neil Ackroyd; Andrew Gilmour; Ed Battye; Luke Holt

Scorers: Tries - Hawksworth; Roby; Hepworth. Goals: Pygott 2/3

Leigh Centurions Reserves (A) 5th July 2008

Sheffield got away to a superb start in this game with Grant Farrow showing the Leigh defence a clean pair of heels with a 50 metre run following a pass from James Morrow. Dane McDonald converted to make it 6-0 to the Eagles after just two minutes and although Craig Johnson made a startling break, Leigh were second best for the first quarter.

Another high speed Eagles attack came in the 21st minute when Greg Hurst and Frank Wragg combined down the left and long serving Craig Brown collected an inside ball to canter to the line.

Finally the table topping Centurions came to life when Liam Grundy fired a pass left and Danny Jackson made best use of the overlap to blast over after 25 minutes. Dean Hatton nudged over the first of seven successful goals.

The Leigh stand-off was then at the hub of things three minutes later when his break down the left was supported by Liam Grundy and the skipper ran in his first try of the season. The conversion edged Leigh in front but better was to follow for the Centurions.

With Grundy receiving quicker play-the-balls, Leigh looked far more potent and when Danny Meekin again broke on the left, substitute Steve Grundy supported for a spectacular try.

Two minutes from the half-time whistle, Leigh grabbed their fourth try with Hatton again the provider following a long run. Liam Grundy was again in support and Hatton converted to make it 22-10 at the interval.

Just a minute of the second half had elapsed when James Riches collected a kick and linked with Johnson. He raced 85 metres and a try looked the only outcome before Joe Groves and Hurst chased back and the impact of their tackle forced the ball loose.

This inspired Sheffield and McDonald scythed through for Alex Rowe to score but it was Leigh that returned to the other end of the field. Ryan Powell kicked to the corner and Wragg fumbled which allowed Adam Thomas an easy try.

As Leigh hunted another score, Powell forced a drop out with an intelligent kick that just saw Brown arrive ahead of the impressive Andy Ainscough. Hurst again brought Sheffield back to within six points following a controversial score but Hatton had other ideas. His speculative bomb brought a mix-up in the Eagles ranks which allowed Jamie Smith to scoop up and then lay his pass off for Steve Grundy to claim his second try. Although this went unconverted, Leigh kicked on again to claim three further tries in the last ten minutes through Ainscough, Rob Roberts and Riches, all three of which were converted by Hatton.

This moved the scoreline on to a one-sided looking 50-22.


Leigh: Craig Johnson, James Riches, Adam Thomas, Andy Ainscough, Jamie Smith; Dean Hatton, Ryan Powell; John Hill, Martin Greaves, Danny Macdonald, Danny Jackson, Mark Roberts, Liam Grundy; Steve Grundy, Mike Jones, Martin Glover, Danny Meekin.

Tries: Jackson (25), L. Grundy 2 (28, 38), S. Grundy 2 (33, 59), Thomas (47), Ainscough (71), Roberts (77), Riches (79).

Goals: Hatton 7/9.



Sheffield: Mark Renshaw-Smith, Steve Price, Grant Farrow, Greg Hurst, Frank Wragg; Dane McDonald, Ben Vivian; Tom Buckenham, Kyle Kesik, Alex Rowe, Ryan Hepworth, Craig Brown, James Morrow; Joe Groves, Eddie Batty, Dan Hawksworth, Craig Jones.

Tries: Farrow (2), Brown (21), Rowe (44), Hurst (55).

Goals: McDonald 3/4.

Penalties 6-7.

Leigh Centurions Reserves (H) 28th June 2008

This was a game of only one half - the one Sheffield Eagles' defended. The game was played almost entirely in their half and very rarely did they make inroads into the Leigh territory. The defence started quite securely and there was still hope at half time but with an every mounting error count, missed opportunities and inability to retain possession Sheffield were never going to break the solid Leigh defence. Sheffield took 20 minutes to complete one set of drives after losing control of the ball too often. They rarely had possession.

Leigh opened the scoring on 8 minutes and never looked back, although the home side did manage to restrict the visitors to just 16 points in the first half but after the break Leigh ran riot with 5 further tries and a very cheekily taken drop goal from Ryan Powell.

The Eagles cause was not helped with the sin-binning of Mark Renshaw-Smith for being the next Eagles player to be penalised for a high tackle, which the referee had warned the team about previously, but Leigh were struggling with their own indiscipline and inability to control emotions.

Dean Hatton showed his skill at loose forward and was only denied a hat-trick by some excellent tackling by Joe Groves who put in his man of the match performance both in attack and defence.

Leigh were a persistent thorn in the home side's side and denied any positive advancement into their half by the Sheffield team, although Hepworth, Jones and Trayler put in huge stints in both attack and defence.

Luckily for the Eagles Mike Roby was in form as full back and he rescued the Eagles on many occasions with bring the ball out of defence only to be let down by sloppy ball handling. Price, Hurst and Farrow could not make much ground and Dan Townson was carried off on 68 minutes with an injury which curtailed the rest of the game for him.

Leigh's Martin Greaves was on form with the boot which just added to the Eagles' woe. The final whistle didn't come soon enough and the Eagles were lucky to not concede more points than they did.
 

Sheffield:
Mike Roby; Stephen Price; Greg Hurst;G rant Farrow; Dan Townson; Jack Malin; Ben Vivian; Craig Jones;Kyle Kesik; Ryan Hepworth; James Morrow; Aaron Phelps; Tommy Trayler. Subs: Joe Groves; Mark Renshaw-Smith; Ed Battye; Dan Hawksworth.

Leigh:
Chris Giles ;Linford Benhamin; Adam Rudd; James Riches; Jamie Smith; Ryan Powell; Martin Keaveney; Martin Glover; Liam Grundy; Danny Meekin; Danny Jackson; Mark Roberts; Dean Hatton. Subs: Martin Greaves; Craig Johnson; Danny Macdonald; Mark Astley.

Scorers:Benjamin, Rudd, Riches, Jackson, Roberts, Johnson, Hatton 2. Goals:Hatton 2 , Greaves 5. Drop Goal:Powell.


Penalities:  Eagles (6) 8 Leigh (8) 12

Sin Bin: Mark Renshaw-Smith (48 min- high tackle)

Batley Bulldogs Reserves (H) 21st June 2008

Sheffield Eagles 40
T: McDonald 2, Morrow 2, Parmenter, Farrow, Buckenham G: McDonald 6

Batley Bulldogs 16
T: Craven 2, Brooke G: Speak 2

H.T. 24-12

Rochdale Hornets Reserves (H)7th June 2008

AN early injury to stand-off Dane McDonald proved a major blow for Sheffield Eagles' second team as they crashed to Rochdale Hornets.

The 52-6 defeat ended a run of four straight wins. McDonald scored all Eagles' points with a try and a goal before he was taken to hospital with a badly cut head after 14 minutes.

A strong Rochdale side - helped by some indiscipline with Greg Hurst sent to the sin bin - moved into an 18-6 lead with four tries by half-time.

Hornets dominated the second half scoring six more tries to pass the 50-points mark. Eagles came close to scoring a couple of times but poor handling on the final pass denied them even a consolation try.


Sheffield : Mike Roby; Stephen Price, Grant Farrow, Greg Hurst, Frank Wragg, Dane McDonald, Greg Pygott, Craig Jones, Kyle Kesik, Luke Holt, James Morrow, Craig Brown, Damien Thomas. Subs. Jack Malin, Joe Groves, Mark Renshaw-Smith, Adam Russell.

T: McDonald
G: McDonald


Rochdale : Keiron Tucker; Benji Lloyd, Craig Highton, Malek Tamghart, Josh Brown, Chris Forster, Anthony Murray, Tom Wild, Wes Lawton, John Sweeney, Scott Frost, Danny Samuels, Ben Dewhirst. Subs. Mike Grady, David Cookson, Matty Cunliffe, Matty Moores.

T: Murray 3, Cunliffe 2, Tucker 2, Lloyd, Highton, Samuels
G: Forster 6

Halifax RLFC Reserves (H)31st May 2008

Sheffield completed the double over Halifax RLFC in a very successful weekend when the Reserve Team followed on from their first team counterparts’ previous evenings’ success at Don Valley. Lead by Craig Jones, the forwards dominated play and the home side opened the scoring in the first minute through Greg Hurst, with McDonald converting.

Kyle Kesik added his name to the score sheet 14 minutes in, McDonald converted, and the Eagles continued to retain the ball, making it difficult for Halifax to progress as they made mistakes under pressure from Sheffield. The Eagles halfbacks ran the show superbly, backed up by Mike Roby’s solid last line of defence.

The Eagles went further ahead with a try from hard working Ryan Hepworth on 20 minutes, again converted by McDonald, and it was if the Reserves were following the script written by the first team the previous evening. Constant pressure was being exerted on the Halifax line and seven minutes later Dan Townson crossed the line for the 4th converted try for the home side. Halifax were reeling and good use of the substitutes maintained the pressure until the 35th minute when Halifax managed to turn their side of the scoreboard with a try from prop James Fairbank, converted by Ben Bottomley.

The second half started in a similar vein t the first with tries being scored by McDonald, Stephen Price and Ryan Hepworth going in for his second. McDonald added the extras on for two of those tries. Shortly before Hepworth scored the proceedings were brought to a halt when an accidental clash of heads saw Grant Farrow having to leave the field of play with fractured nose, and two of the Halifax players ended up requiring the assistance of the paramedics.

Shortly after Hepworth had taken the Eagles score on to 40, the 'Fax team came into their own with 2 tries from Matthew Bravo and a try a piece for Scott Caley and Shaun Garrod.  Unfortunately it was too little - too late for the visitors and the Eagles soared to another consecutive victory.


Sheffield : Mike Mooney; Steve Price, Grant Farrow, Greg Hurst, Dan Townson, Dane McDonald, Ben Vivian, Craig Jones, Kyle Kesik, Tom Buckenham, Ryan Hepworth, Ryan James, Richard Humphries. Subs. Greg Pygott, Mark Renhaw-Smith, Luke Holt, Simon Perry.

T: Hepworth 2, Price, Hurst, Townson, McDonald, Kesik
G: McDonald 6


Halifax : Scott Caley; Ben Hinsley, Chris Holroyde, Danny Foulds, Matt Bravo; Sean Garrod, Greg Firth; Tom Guinan, Stuart Proctor, James Fairbank, Brett Durkin, Iain Davies, Josh Barlow. Subs. Ben Bottomley, Martin Silcox, Graham Charlesworth, James Yarker.

T: Bravo 2, Caley, Garrod, Fairbank
G: Bottomley 3

Hunslet Hawks Reserves (H) 17th May 2008

Youthful Sheffield playing their first home game in six weeks had the visitors on the back foot from the kick off, with James Morrow crossing the whitewash on 6 minutes with McDonald converting. The home side built momentum, completing their sets and gaining good field positions.

However the pressure was not maintained and soon after Hunslet, through targeting the right hand side of the Eagles defence, scored with Townsend converting his own try.

Hunslet capitalised on the change in momentum and on the Eagles lack of discipline, mounting an attack from which Morton nosed the visitors ahead, although Townsend failed to convert.
Despite an Eagles double substitution, the Hawks still had the bit between their teeth and Robinson chalked up their third try, with Townsends boot on target.

A late challenge by Kesik saw the Eagles reduced to 12 men, but the sin bin spurred the home side into life and Grant Farrow took an excellent opportunity to reduce the deficit going in at half time, although McDonald failed to convert.

The Eagles came out chomping on the reigns after the break with Captain Craig Jones notching up an early candidate for try of the season, charging downfield like a half back to touch down. McDonald failed to convert but it was not long before Full Back Mike Roby added his name to the score sheet, this time McDonald finding his target.

Hunslet had other ideas for the game, and retook the lead through Aitkin, again targeting the right hand side to score and converting his own try.

Centre Greg Hurst returned the compliment, demonstrating his speed and skill out wide to the left of the posts, McDonald missed the kick, but with the narrow advantage restored, Hunslet continued the like for like again through Aitkin’s try and conversion.

With the Eagles defence napping, Hunslet ceased another opportunity as Elliot latched onto a loose ball and broke through the defence, with Aitkin adding the extras.

Craig Jones’ reintroduction to the field fired the home side up again and a powerful run from Jones pushed the team down field and Kyle Kesik backed him up to make up for his earlier misdemeanour to cross the whitewash. McDonald found his target and shortly after nudged Sheffield ahead with his final conversion as Greg Hurst was rewarded with a second try.

Hunslet were not done, and pushed hard in the final three minutes, pressurising Sheffield into making mistakes. A late chip through saw a touch down waved away by the officials and Sheffield hung on to claim their 3rd consecutive victory with a two point margin.


Sheffield : Mike Roby; Frank Wragg, Grant Farrow, Greg Hurst, Dan Townson; Dane McDonald, Greg Pygott; Craig Jones, Kyle Kesik, Luke Holt, James Morrow, Richard Humphries, Nick Turnbull. Subs. Ben Vivian, Eddie Battye, Dan Hawksworth, Joe Groves.

T: Hurst 2, Roby, Farrow, Jones, Kesik, Morrow
G: McDonald 4


Hunslet : Gary McLelland; Rob Armstrong, Scott Aitken, Luke Pennington, Steve Morton; Dale Harris, Jonny Wainhouse; Ben Lawton, Gareth Walker, Liam Watlin, Ben Walkin, Dean Townend, Paul Robinson. Subs. Matty Firth, James Flynn, Ade Aderaye, Jason Elliott.

T: Aitken 2, Morton, Townend, Robinson, Elliott
G: Aitken 3, Morton 2

York City Knights Reserves (A) 8th May 2008

Sheffield's mix of youth and experience earned them a good Knight's work in York. With 6 players on debut (Pygott, Battye, Hawksworth, Haigh, Townson and Wragg, the fledgling Eagles found themselves on the backfoot for the opening 20 minutes, only completing four sets of possession and finding themselves 14-0 behind.

Morrow's 21st minute try kicked the visitors in to life and with McDonald's boot kicking all six attempts at goal, The Eagles clawed their way back to victory.

This was the kick start the visitors needed and it was very shortly afterwards that the ball got some movement from Michael Hill, Grant Farrow and McDonald himself, after the forwards had made the impression needed in the York defence, for McDonald to go in for the first of his two tries, which he also converted.

Kyle Kesik crossed on the back of good attacking play by Dan Hawksworth, aided by York's ill discipline and Sheffield maintained the pressure through the rotating set of forwards and Tommy Trayler completed the half's scoring with a driving try that had the visitors back in the game, turning the tide of the opening 20 minutes of the match.

Eagles did not have the best of starts with Michael Hill going down in a tackle and having to come off with a shoulder injury. Shortly afterwards Hawksworth and Haigh were replaced with the big Jones and Hepworth units who had put in a great deal of work in the first half and they continued through the second delivering big hits in the tackle and Hepworth in particular made some very useful yards. York's Waldron then went against the run of the play and scored the first of his brace, converted by Gargan.

Another Hillsborough Hawk then had his chance to join the game. Ed Battye came on for James Morrow and made an immediate impact with some solid tackling in defence. McDonald then saw his chance a few minutes later to go in for his second try of the evening, restoring the advantage. Slack defending on the Eagles right wing allowed Waldron to be fed the ball and York broke across the field and he crashed over for his second, this time the conversion was missed.

The final Eagles score was on the 61st minute when Stephen Price, who along with Frank Wragg had worked well in both attack and defence, had an opportunity to score a try of his own which McDonald again managed to convert to give the Eagles a twelve point advantage.

York responded with Hodgson scoring two more tries to take his tally for the night to 4 and Gargan could only convert the first. With him missing the second, this gave the Eagles a two point advantage with 12 minutes left on the clock and they held on to take the spoils.

YORK CITY KNIGHTS: DAVID LEEKE ; JOHNNY WALDRON ; STEVE GRUNDY; SAM BLANEY; JOE STEARMAN; LEIGH RIENTOUL; ANDY GARGAN; JACK STEARMAN; TOM HODGSON; MARK APPLEGARTH ; JOE MAUD; OLIVER WILCOX-HARRRISON; DANNY WALTON; DALE FERRIS. Subs: TOM WILCOX-HARRISON; ADAM ENDERSBY; NICK SPECK; DAN HUNTER.

Scorers: Waldron 2; Hodgson 4; Stearman; Goals: Gargan 3/5; Reintoul 0/2

SHEFFIELD EAGLES: MIKE ROBY; DAN TOWNSON; STEPHEN PRICE; GRANT FARROW; FRANK WRAGG; DANE MCDONALD; MICHAEL HILL; CRAIG JONES; KYLE KESIK; RYAN HEPWORTH; JAMES MORROW; TOMMY TRAYLER; GREG HURST. Subs: GREG PYGOTT; ED BATTYE; DAN HAWKSWORTH; SIMON HAIGH.

Scorers: McDonald 2, Price, Kesik, Morrow, Trayler. Goals: McDonald 6/6

REFEREE: B Robinson

Batley Bulldogs Reserves (A) 26th April 2008

The Eagles started up hill, with a team that included 7 first team players. Hepworth, Hurst and Jones were making the hard yards and Michael Hill was the first to cross the whitewash 11 minutes in with Dane McDonald adding the extras.

With both teams playing some good Rugby, despite the slope against them, Sheffield made good yards with some speedy breaks and good offloads, capitalising on some lose Batley plays with centre Mike Roby showing tremendous pace by blasting 50m up the hill, out running the defence to score the second try, with McDonald again on target.

Batley continued to try to break the visitors defence and eventually Jerome Campbell achieved it, but with a poor conversion attempt by Scott Childs the score remained 4 points to 12. Childs then crossed just before the break, but James Craven failed to hit the mark keeping the half time score to 8-12.

With the second half about to start the chance to play to the slope's advantage should have helped the Eagles, and with the substitutes Liam Booth, Aaron Phelps and Ryan James proving to be a nuisance to Batley, they seemed to up their game in response. Craven then went in for Batley's next try, levelling the scores.

When The Eagles regained posession, Morrow put the visitors back in control with a well taken try before Hepworth crossed after exploding onto the ball, McDonald kicked the conversion. Two minutes later, Grant Farrow broke down the left hand wing to score a try which left the defence standing and again McDonald was accurate with the boot.

Batley to their credit did not capitulate. Michael Stewart took on the Sheffield defence, after a penalty was awarded for ripping and the penalty from their third kicker (Campbell) narrowed the gap by 6 points. It wasn't long before Stewart scored his second try, but Campbell missed the conversion this time.

There was an urgency in the Batley camp and another few sets of skilled ball passing and off-loading, missed and incomplete Eagles tackles and Campbell put in a smart low kick on the left wing passed the Eagles defence and chased after it. The bounce was kind for him and he scored in the corner. With a touchline conversion needed to level the scores he, thankfully for the Eagles, missed and the game finished with Eagles chalking up their first win of the season.


Batley Bulldogs:James Craven; Jerome Campbell; Nat Brown; Michael Stewart; Scott Childs; Joss Ratcliffe; Rich Colley; Anthony Thewliss; Ross Young; Michael Kite; Gary Green; Saquib Mutza; Stephen Brook. Subs: Damien Shipman; Jake Richardson; Ashley Vonsie; Nathan Hadfield.

Scorers: Tries: Jerome Campbell 2; Scott Childs; James Craven; Michael Stewart 2. Goals: Campbell 1/3; Craven 0/2; Childs 0/1

Sheffield Eagles: Mike Roby; Stephen Price; James Parmenter; Grant Farrow; Mark Renshaw-Smith; Dane McDonald; Michael Hill; Craig Jones; Kyle Kesik; Ryan Hepworth; James Morrow; Damian Thomas; Greg Hurst. Subs: Richard Humphries; Ryan James; Aaron Phelps; Liam Booth

Scorers: Tries:  Michael Hill (11); Mike Roby (20); James Morrow (59); Ryan Hepworth (65); Grant Farrow (67);Goals: Dane McDonald 4/5

Penalties: Batley 9 Sheffield 9

Ref T Mahar

Keighley Cougars Reserves (H) 5th April 2008

Sheffield started off well in this encounter, coming in within striking distance of the visitors early in the first half, but tailed off under pressure and surrendered complete control towards the end of the game.

The Eagles opened their account on the 2nd minute with a try from fullback Mark Renshaw-Smith after Keighley had been penalised for being off-side. The ball was passed through 6 sets of hands, before James Morrow was brought down. Yusef Sozi took the ball up before it went to the hands of Neil Ackroyd and Dane McDonald to feed Renshaw-Smith to make the last few metres to open the scoring for the Eagles.

This seemed to wake Keighley up and they exerted early pressure on the Eagles defence gaining two penalties for off-side before forcing errors in the defence with incomplete and missed tackles and a further penalty for a high shot. The visitors capitalized on this and Ben Sagaz went in for the first of the Keighley tries which was not converted. Luke Sandland, who was to be the thorn in the Eagles side was pushing the Keighley forwards around the pitch and the home side were having to put in a great number of defensive tackles to try to keep the try line from being breached.

Eagles were forced to drop out on 13 minutes but there was little respite for the Eagles and it was soon the turn off Marco Ferrazzano to cross the white wash, on 14 minutes, followed by Sandland himself on 18 minutes and he followed his own kick through and recovered the ball, both converted by Sandland, to give Keighley a deserved 12 point lead.

The Eagles were putting in some good tackles with Greg Hurst, Morrow and Sozi leading the way. The game was hardly a quarter of the way through when the weather changed dramatically and it started hailing heavily, but Keighley continued to exert pressure on the Eagles and they were forced to drop out again on the 22nd minute after a Keighley kick through.

Stephen Price made some good yards on the wing and got the ball to Simon Perry who was stopped just a yard short of the try line. Just as the line was begging to be crossed Craig Jones knocked on but was on hand to make amends a minute later and close the gap on the visitors and McDonald duly tagged on the extras. Eagles were judged to be off-side again as the half was drawing to a close and Sandland had an easy kick to make the score 10 - 18.

The Eagles were awarded a penalty for Keighley upending one of the Eagles and from the resultant penalty the home side were able to get the ball into the hands of McDonald who crossed for his first try, which he converted, after the ball hit the upright and the halftime difference was only 2 points.

The second half continued from where the first half had ended and McDonald crossed the Keighley line to give the lead back to the Eagles, which they had not held since the 6th minute. Unfortunately this situation was not to last and in the ensuing 10 minutes Keighley crossed for another two converted tries, the first after Renshaw-Smith was sin-binned on 44 minutes for obstruction, and that was scored by Gazdnitz, the second by Haythorntwaite. After Stephen Price had set up a good platform for the Eagles and with some good pressure a wayward pass was intercepted by Haythorntwaite who ran the length of the pitch to score under the posts.

Eagles were making errors with their tackling techniques and allowing the Keighley attack to break through. Eventually the Eagles put a good set of passes together which allowed McDonald to get on the end of a pass from Grant Farrow and he went in for his 3rd try which Kyle Kesik failed to convert.

The last quarter of the game belonged to Keighley and with two penalties, two tries, one converted, Keighley made the score line look very convincing for themselves.



Sheffield : Mark Renshaw Smith; Stephen Price, Richard Humphries, Grant Farrow, Daniel Bedford; Dane McDonald, Neil Ackroyd; Yusuf Sozi, Kyle Kesik, David Reed, James Morrow, James Parmenter, Greg Hurst. Subs: Damien Thomas, Aaron Phelps, Simon Perry, Craig Jones.
Scorers:
T: McDonald 3, Renshaw Smith, Jones
G: McDonald 2

Keighley : Tim Bibby; Sam Gazdnitz, Mike Hastings, Alex Young, James Hutchinson; Luke Sandland, Liam Walsh; David Emmott, Luke Sutcliffe, Marco Ferrazzano, Dave Norcross, Ben Sagaz, James Travis. Subs: James Haythornetwaite, Tom Palmer, Paddy Murray, Danny Murgatroyd.
Scorers:
T: Gazdnitz 2, Sandland, Sutcliffe, Ferrazzano, Sagaz, Haythornetwaite
G: Sandland 8

Ref: B Robinson

Featherstone Rovers Reserves (H) 29th March 2008

In atrocious playing conditions the Eagles Reserves opened their season against Featherstone Rovers.

The Eagles started off with Greg Hurst showing the forwards how to tackle, Damien Thomas trying to distribute the ball in all directions and Grant Farrow not only being solid in defence, but making great distances in attack. Eagles were under constant pressure from the kick off, although it was Rovers who were making the errors, giving away unnecessary penalties and possession, throwing away an easy chance to open the scoring on 11 minutes when they knocked on having crossed the try line.

The home side withstood the pressure and eventually the ideal break came when Farrow picked up the ball on the halfway line and outran all others to score under the posts giving Michael Hill and easy convertible kick.

The rest of the half  belonged to Rovers who had obviously played together before. They put in some great halfback moves and relentless tackling had to be done by The Eagles to keep them from crossing the whitewash. Hurst, Rowe, Thomas and Morrow being the leaders in that field.

On the 20 minute mark Featherstone's Hesketh managed to bring thev isitors back within 2 points of the Eagles with a try. Further pressure and 5minutes later Rovers were awarded a penalty for "lifting" and Wynne took the shot at goal and brought the scores level. The deadlock lasted for another 15 minutes, and as the half time whistle approached, the usual lack of concentration by the Eagles crept in and Rovers made a break down the left hand wing, exposing a gap for Kellett to make good metres, drawing in the Eagles defence passing to Dobek to go in for the first of his brace. This time Wynne converted and brought the half time score to Eagles 6 Rovers 12.

The second half continued in the same vein with Rovers opening their account one minute 26 secs into the half with an easy try for Dobek. Again Rovers had taken control of the middle of the park and thanks to some excellent tackling by Kesik, Booth, Thomas and Morrow the visitors were kept away from the Eagles try line. Cawthray managed to break the line of defence, again Wynne missed and then 2 minutes later, McDonald intercepted an unusually wild Rovers pass and headed for the try line but he was tackled into the left hand toucho nly inches from the Rovers line.

Rovers responded well and Hutton went over for the last of Rovers' tries on 54 minutes. Morrow got himself on the score sheet, converted by McDonald and 2minutes later an excellent passage of play saw newcomer James Parameter get hisd ebut try on 61 minutes, again converted by McDonald. Sheffield were not finished yet and Alex Rowe forced his way over for yet another McDonald converted try. The final chance came unexpectedly in the last minute, but the Eagles on their final atack threw away a great opportunity tos core, by being penalised for obstruction.

Eagles: Grant Farrow; Dan Bedford; James Paramenter; Richard Humphries; Simon Corby; Dane McDonald; Damien Thomas; Craig Jones; Michael Hill; Alex Rowe; James Morrow; David Reed; Greg Hurst; Subs: Kyle Kesik; Aaron Phelps; Simon Perry; Liam Booth.

Scorers:
Tries: Farrow (15); Morrow (58); Paramenter (61); Rowe (72).
Goals:Hill 1/1; McDonald 3/3

Featherstone: S Wilson; S Hutton; S Sinclair; D Wynne; D Kellett; M Handworth; A Dobek; D Sheperd; M Johnson; G Ellery; D Richardson; C Cawthray; S Hesketh; Subs: A Curtis; J Goff; C Burke; Y Gabriel

Scorers:
Tries: Hesketh (19); Dobek (39,41); Cawthray (49); Hutton (54)
Goals: Wynne 3/7

Ref T Crashley