Leigh vs Eagles Preview

07/02/2020

Sheffield Eagles will be looking for an immediate response from last weekend’s 18-17 loss against Halifax when they travel to Leigh Centurions on Saturday.

The Eagles led for large parts of their Round One fixture and after initially trailing to a Conor McGrath score, the visitors hit back with a well-worked move to the left ending with Ryan Millar touching down.

On 29 minutes Halifax forward Kevin Larroyer was sin-binned for dangerous contact and the Eagles took advantage of their opponents being a man light.

As Scott Murrell aimed to kick downfield, Robbie Ward charged it down before dribbling the ball over the whitewash and applying the finish.

Halifax levelled the scores on 54 minutes courtesy of a Steve Tyrer converted try.

The Eagles regained the lead shortly after as a short ball from Aaron Brown fed Joel Farrell to power over.

Izaac Farrell converted before slotting a drop-goal with nine minutes remaining to give the South Yorkshire club a two-score lead.

The hosts responded with two late scores to win the game by a point.

James Saltonstall touched down in the corner before Oliver Roberts broke the line to score with a minute remaining.

Saturday’s hosts Leigh were victorious in their first Championship outing of 2020, with a 36-10 win over Dewsbury Rams at the Tetley's Stadium.

In a tightly-contested first half, Leigh went into the break two points up thanks to efforts from Josh Woods and Cameron Scott.

The Rams’ points came courtesy of an Adam Ryder try and three Paul Sykes goals.

Leigh sealed a comfortable victory in the second 40, with former Eagle Ben Hellewell scoring.

Iain Thornley, Ben Reynolds and Adam Higson also registered four-pointers for John Duffy's men.

Leigh Centurions’ One to Watch - Ben Reynolds

Leigh stand-off Reynolds is our one to watch on Saturday.

He comes off the back of an impressive display at Dewsbury, where the playmaker didn't miss a conversion and also helped himself to a try.

The 26-year-old rejoined the Centurions after short spells at Wakefield and Featherstone in 2019.

Previously, Reynolds featured 76 times for the Leythers from 2015 to 2018 - scoring 527 points in the process.

Tickets for tomorrow can be bought in advance on Leigh's website, with the Kingstone Press West Stand Blocks A & B allocated to Sheffield Eagles supporters

Ticket prices are as follows;

Adults: £22
Over 65 Years: £17
18-21 Years: £17
12-17 Years: £8
5-11 Years: £5

By Lewis Coleman, graphic by Alex Coleman