Match Report | Sheffield Eagles 10-36 Wakefield Trinity

03/05/2024

Sheffield Eagles tasted defeat for the first time in the Betfred Championship this season, following a 10-36 defeat at home to Wakefield Trinity on Friday evening.

Mark Aston was boosted with the returns of Kris Welham and Anthony Thackeray, both coming straight back into the starting thirteen to take the places of Matty Marsh and Bayley Liu.

Jack Hansen moved into the full-back position, whilst there was a place on the bench once again for Jesse Sene-Lefao, who was hoping to make his 200th career appearance.

Wakefield opened the scoring less than two minutes into the game, as referee Ben Thaler awarded the visitors a scrum early on following a forward pass in the Eagles first set. Josh Griffin latched onto the pass out of the scrum to battle his way over the try-line. Max Jowitt ensured his kicking game was strong, starting a coversion rate of 100% success rate for the evening.

Sheffield responded twelve minutes later, as Matty Dawson-Jones was in good space on the left-hand side, he received the ball following a scrum and squeezed his way through three Wakefield men in the corner. Cory Aston made no mistake with his touchline conversion to bring the game level.

Thr hosts had a chance to go ahead just before the half-hour mark as Hansen kicked through on the last tackle. Jones-Bishop looked to be only inches away from tapping the ball down in the corner. But Wakefield hit back instantly as Luke Gale spotted a gap in the Sheffield line to crash his way over.

Wakefield went back-to-back just shy of the forty minute mark. Firstly, Griffin broke through the middle of the Sheffield line, before passing the ball inside to Jowitt to force his way over the try-line. Before Jay Pitts then added the final try of the half, barging his way over from close-range giving the visitors a three-score lead going into the break.

Wakefield re-opened the scoring in the second-half through Ky Rodwell, as he received the ball from Tom Doyle to crash over under the sticks.

The visitors looked to break on half-way but Derrell Olpherts couldn’t keep hold off the ball as he knocked on in the Sheffield 40. As Wakefield earned the ball back in their own 30, Mason Lino then knocked on and received the only sin-bin off the game after throwing the ball at Sene-Lefao’s head in retaliation. The Eagles couldn’t capitalise following the penalty, which saw a turn over of play.

Wakefield further developed their lead less than ten minutes form time, as Lachlan Walmsley found space out on the left-hand side to place the ball over the try-line.

The visitors then attempted to let the ball go out on the full from kick-off, however it bounces off a visiting player and we get the ball back on the 20m line. The Eagles had the final say in the game as the ball found its way out to the right hand side and Welham battled his way through the Wakefield line to go over in the corner. Aston couldn’t place the ball between the sticks this time.

The Eagles are back in action next Sunday when we travel up to North Yorkshire to take on York RLFC Knights in the AB Sundecks 1895 Cup Semi Final.

Sheffield Eagles: Hansen, Jones-Bishop, Welham, Glover, Dawson-Jones, Aston, Thackeray, Battye, Halafihi, Dickinson, Foster, J.Farrell, Gwaze

Interchanges: Clark, Murphy, Roberts, Sene-Lefao

18th Man: Wood

Tries: Dawson-Jones (14’), Welham (74’)

Conversions: Aston (1/2)
 

Wakefield Trinity: Jowitt, Olpherts, Thornley, Pratt, Walmsley, Gale, Lino, Bowden, Hood, Atoni, Ashurst, Griffin, Pitts

Interchanges: Kay, Uele, Rodwell, Doyle

18th Man: Croft

Tries: Griffin (2’), Gale (27’), Jowitt (38’), Pitts (40’), Rodwell (49’) Walmsley (71’)

Conversions: Jowitt (6/6)

Referee: B.Thaler

Attendance: 1,998