Eagles beat Workington at OLP

24/07/2022

SHEFFIELD EAGLES 64

WORKINGTON TOWN 6

Dan Fowler for League Express, Olympic Legacy Park, Sunday 

SHEFFIELD EAGLES got back to winning ways in the Betfred Championship with a convincing victory over Workington Town.

It was a tough day for Town, who had just three subs and had a long journey down to South Yorkshire due to a delay on the motorway.

The job still had to be done by Sheffield, who will have been low on confidence but the return of one man certainly helped their cause. 

Anthony Thackeray came back into the Eagles team after injury and he certainly had the desired effect throughout the game. Just three minutes in, the scrum-half was pulling the strings and broke the deadlock himself with a fine individual effort. 

Spotting a gap in-between the defensive line and wingers, Thackeray dabbed the ball in behind before kicking on twice more to get over the whitewash. Josh Guzdek converted from the touchline. 

Sheffield doubled their advantage soon after as Liam Kirk hit a fine line to barge over from close range. Another conversion for Guzdek put Sheffield into a decent position early on. 

Workington’s first clear cut chance went astray when Conor Fitzsimmons got through the Eagles rearguard, his pass looked to be on the money but the supporting man couldn’t take the ball in. 

The visitors were punished for their missed opportunity as the next set saw Sheffield go up the other end and score their third try of the afternoon. 

The combination of Ben Jones-Bishop and Kris Welham on the right flank came to fruition, the former passing inside for the latter to dot down. Guzdek’s first miss of the afternoon followed, his effort going across the face of the posts. 

Workington had threatened previously with no finishing touch but that came on 24 minutes. A no-nonsense run from Jordan Thomson saw the prop muscle his way to four points. Carl Forber converted from in front of the sticks. 

Directly from the restart, the Eagles had got those six points back. With a swirling wind, the kick was in no man’s land for Workington and Mikey Wood batted the ball to Tom Holmes - a switch to the right flank ensued and the Welham-Jones-Bishop combo were on hand again, this time the winger with the score. Guzdek tagged on the extras. 

A flurry of red cards followed as Bayley Liu and Thomson saw the mist descend. Punches flew between the forwards and they were sent for an early shower in the last action of note in the first half. 

Sheffield have had trouble in the second half in recent times but this was more straightforward against a Town team running with three substitutes and a very long journey down to South Yorkshire. 

Thackeray completed his four-piece with a second half hat-trick, Jones-Bishop went over for his brace, Matty Chrimes, Tom Holmes, Quentin Laulu-Togaga’e and Brandon Douglas also found the whitewash in an eight tries to nil period. 

A very tough afternoon for Workington considering the circumstances while Sheffield will be glad to have got a win on the board after a torrid spell.