Eagles hold on against Oldham

12/06/2021

Sheffield Eagles got back to winning ways on Saturday afternoon, beating Oldham 28-32 at Bower Fold.

The Eagles were 20 points up with as many minutes remaining but the hosts fought back in the final quarter after a red card was shown to prop forward Tyler Dickinson.

Rob Worrincy scored a hat-trick for Sheffield while James Glover caused similar damage on the other flank as the centre notched a brace.

Mark Aston gave a debut to new signing Evan Hodgson, who started in the back-row.

The Eagles chief also switched up the pack as captain Matt James started on the bench and Dickinson was given the nod to start.

Glover and Worrincy got the scoreboard ticking in favour of the visitors, both scoring unconverted tries inside 20 minutes.

Max Roberts replied for the Roughyeds as he collected a kick before touching down.

Glover scored his second try of the afternoon with five minutes to go in the first period. He raced away after picking up the pieces from a Lewis Charnock kick. Izaac Farrell added the extras for a 4-14 advantage.

That lead was cut by two points on the stroke of half-time as Abram kicked a penalty goal.

Half-time - Oldham 6-14 Sheffield Eagles

Oldham came out of the blocks firing in the second half and they took advantage through Abram. His converted try brought Matt Diskin’s side to within two points of the Eagles.

To their credit, Sheffield responded emphatically with three tries in six minutes all but securing the spoils.

Aaron Brown’s quick feet saw him get to the whitewash before a Worrincy double-salvo helped the travelling Eagles contingent breath a little easier for a few minutes at least. Farrell converted all three tries and the visitors found themselves 12-32 up.

Martyn Reilly gave a bit of hope to Oldham’s comeback charge as he powered through, with Abram converting.

A red card to Eagles forward Dickinson for a late tackle had the Roughyeds smelling blood. Liam Kirk and Tommy Brierley both scored in the closing stages to reduce the arrears to four points but Sheffield managed to hold on by the skin of their teeth.

Full-time - Oldham 28-32 Sheffield Eagles

A vital victory for the Eagles as they stopped the rot of six games without a win.

They move on to Widnes Vikings away next Sunday, aiming for back-to-back victories.

By Dan Fowler, photo by Alex Coleman