Match Report | Sheffield Eagles 6-48 London Broncos
20/07/2025
Written by Kaushik Viswanath
Sheffield Eagles suffered a heavy 6–48 defeat to London Broncos in Round 18 of the Betfred Championship at the Steel City Stadium this afternoon.
The Eagles came into the match aiming to end a run of four consecutive losses but were outclassed by a clinical Broncos side in wet and challenging conditions in South Yorkshire.
Jenson Windley returned to the lineup after missing last week’s clash against Oldham RLFC , Oliver Roberts made his 200th career appearance as he started at prop, whilst recent loan signing Marcus Green made his debut from the bench.
Despite starting the game brightly, Sheffield fell behind after just 11 minutes when Luke Polselli powered through from the left to open the scoring for the Broncos.
The Eagles responded just three minutes later through Windley. A slick passage of play and a smart offload from Connor Bower created space in the Broncos’ defensive line, allowing the returning scrum-half to cross the line and level the scores to the right of the sticks.
London quickly regained momentum and added two more tries before the break. Lewis Bienek forced his way over from close range, before Polselli added his second of the match, giving the visitors an 18–6 lead at half time.
Nine minutes after the restart, Ben Hursey-Hord capitalised on a Sheffield error to extend the Broncos’ advantage, before Jack Smith slotted over a penalty to further widen the gap on the hour mark.
Sheffield struggled to gain a foothold in the second half and conceded four tries in the final ten minutes. Ethan Natoli added his name to the scoresheet, before Polselli completed his hat-trick by supporting a break from Tommy Porter.
Porter then scored a try of his own after linking up with Polselli again minutes later, before Liam Tindall rounded off the scoring with a late effort in the corner as the hooter sounded.
Sheffield will aim to bounce back on Sunday 3rd August when they host Widnes Vikings at the Steel City Stadium (3pm KO).
Team Lineups:
Sheffield Eagles: Walker, Millar, Welham, Hodson, Walkley, Craven, Windley, Battye, Johnson, Roberts, Foster, Bower, Gwaze
Interchanges: Butterworth, Bussey, Reilly, Green
18th Man: Broadbent
Try: Windley (14’)
Goal: Hodson (1/1)
London Broncos: Polselli, Smith, Webster-Mansfield, Gorman, Tindall, Walker, O’Beirne, Adebiyi, Davies, Bienek, Lovell, Natoli, Stock
Interchanges: Porter, Worthington, Hursey-Hord, Hellec
18th Man: Binks
Tries: Polselli (11’, 38’, 74’), Bienek (21’), Hursey-Hord (49’), Natoli (70’), Porter (77’), Tindall (80’)
Goals: Smith (8/9)
Referee: M. Lynn
Attendance: 736
