Bulls Wheelchair vs Eagles + Peacock Cup
20/05/2023
Bradford Bulls 84 – 24 Sheffield Eagles
Sunday 14th May, 13.30pm KO, Sedbergh Leisure Centre
Betfred Wheelchair Championship
The Eagles suffered at the hands of Bradford in a reverse of fortunes from their early season win. Keiron Johnson, dual-registered with Super League side Halifax Panthers, ran riot for the Bulls in the first half, racking up seven tries, with George Herd and Nathaniel Wright also crossing for the Bulls.
But whilst the Bulls were dominant in attack, they were found wanting in defence with the Eagles looking dangerous with the ball. Chris Haynes opened the red and gold’s account after ten minutes, in the first set which the Eagles had possession, finishing a nicely to the left of the sticks to give Vicky Brooks an easy shot on goal.
Joe Wink-Simmonds followed up shortly afterwards, finding his way through in space after a short pass at the line, with Brooks also converting. Brooks added a try for herself on the half hour mark, with a clever kick through from David Butler being fumbled by Scott Pyrah, Chris Haynes regathering and popping the ball out to the right and into space, although the conversion was a kick too far.
Wink-Simmonds found himself touching down again as he kept himself alive after the play-the-ball to complete the clever switch play which has given the Eagles joy on several occasions this season, although he was unable to add the extras himself.
Bradford kept the presume on after half time, with Herd adding three more tries and Johnson adding his seventh, whilst Anthony Sheldrake was rewarded with a hat-trick for some well worked scores as the Eagles tired from the amount of defence they had to get through.
With Johnson withdrawn on the hour-mark, the game evened out a little, but the Eagles seemed to overplay, chasing the scoreboard unnecessarily and making several errors which yielded possession to the home side. Haynes grabbed a consolation try for the Eagles late in the half, executing a great two on one with his inside player, but again the kick was out of the reach of Brooks and the Eagles were left to rue a loss.
Bradford Bulls
Keiron Johnson, George Herd, Nathaniel Wright, Sam Stebbings, Scott Pyrah. Interchanges: Logan Lamont, Becky Wilkinson, Logan Lamont, David Gregson, Anthony Sheldrake
Tries: George Herd (2, 56, 66, 80), Keiron Johnson (3, 6, 21, 25, 31, 33, 40, 54), Nathaniel Wright (7), Anthony Sheldrake (45, 47, 63)
Goals: Keiron Johnson 5/7, Sam Stebbings 1/2, Anthony Sheldrake 1/2, George Herd 2/3, Scott Pyrah 1/1, Logan Lamont 0/1
Sheffield Eagles
Chris Haynes, David Butler, Vicky Brooks, Emma Pearson, Stacey Roulson. Interchanges: Joe Wink-Simmonds, Lottie Davis-Browne, Jack Johnson, April Brooks, Will Brooks.
Tries: Chris Haynes (10, 70), Joe Wink-Simmonds (18, 35), Vicky Brooks (29),
Goals: Vicky Brooks 2/4, Joe Wink-Simmonds 0/1
Referees: Matt Ball / Grant Jackson
Peacock Cup
Eagles squad for Sunday's Peacock Cup is: Greg Brown, Shaun Orton, Lottie Davis-Browne, Jack Johnson, Joe Wink-Simmonds, Emma Pearson, Ben Simpson, Chris Haynes, David Butler, Jenny Pearson
Fixtures are:
Vs Torfaen Tigers 10.20am
Vs North Wales Crusaders 12.10pm
Vs Rochdale Hornets 1.50pm
Final 2.40pm
Games are 40 minutes one way and take place at Glyndwr Sports Centre, LL11 2AW.
Jenny Pearson makes her return this weekend following a prolonged time out with illness, whilst coach Greg Brown has named himself for the encounter!
Photo by Martin Taylor
