Match Report | Sheffield Eagles 88-12 Newcastle Thunder
11/02/2024
Sheffield Eagles ran in fifteen tries on Saturday afternoon to book their place in the 4th Round of the Betfred Challenge Cup after an 88-12 victory over Newcastle Thunder.
Izaac Farrell and James Glover both went on to score individual hat-tricks during the game, whilst there were braces for Matty Marsh, Aaron Murphy, Jack Hansen and Vila Halafihi.
Mitch Clark also scored his home debut for the club against his former side, helping secure our place in the next round of the competition.
After a quiet opening during the first ten minutes in South Yorkshire, the Eagles ran in three early tries to give themselves a three-score advantage by the first-quarter mark.
Izaac Farrell opened the scoring after spotting a gap in the Newcastle defence to score in the 12th minute, before Aaron Murphy and Matty Marsh went over for their first scores minutes later, with the latter scoring on his competitive debut for the club.
Cory Aston kicked all three conversions, before going to add on another two inside the first forty minutes at Olympic Legacy Park.
Looking to bounce back after a heavy defeat at home to York in their last outing, Newcastle responded with two tries to pull themselves back into the contest. First, George Birch touched down after a defensive mistake from the Eagles, before Nathan Newbound forced his way over after spotting a gap in the defensive line to score under the sticks.
After pulling the game back to 18-12, the Eagles turned on the style as they ran in three more tries before the break to hand themselves a 34-12 lead. Matty Dawson-Jones linked up well with his left-sided partner James Glover, as his catch from Aston’s kick on the last played in Glover for a walk-in try to the left of the sticks.
Farrell added a second after spotting another gap in the Newcastle defence, before Glover added a brace with another try as the hooter sounded.
Five minutes into the second-half, Marsh added himself a second after dancing his way through the Newcastle line to score.
Farrell took over with the boot for the second half, adding nine conversions during the second forty, totally a 100% kick percentage in the second period.
Interchange Jack Hansen opened his account for the afternoon after racing half the length of the field after breaking clear on halfway, before hooker Vila Halafihi got in amongst the action with a trademark scoot-from-dummy-half finish in the 53rd minute.
Hansen added a second with a smart play from a scrum, which saw the half-back once again spot a gap to run through and race away to score from halfway, before Farrell completed his hat-trick on the hour-mark with a smart finish from close-range to take the score to 62-12.
Against his former side, Mitch Clark went over with a powerful run from close-range to score under the sticks his first try in Eagles colours and on his home debut, before another break away down the middle, this time by Marsh, saw him play the ball outside to Glover to finish off to the left of the sticks which completed the centre’s hat-trick.
Murphy added a second for himself with seven minutes to go with another close-range finish, before the game was sealed by Halafihi’s second as his smart dummy sent the Newcastle full-back the wrong way as he added a fifteenth try for the Eagles for the afternoon.
Attention now turns back to AB Sundecks 1895 Cup action as the Eagles face a trip to Midlands Hurricanes next Sunday, knowing victory against the League One side will secure our place in the Quarter Finals of the competition.
Sheffield Eagles: Marsh, Millar, Johnson, Glover, Dawson-Jones, Aston, I.Farrell, Battye, Halafihi, Dickinson, Bower, Liu, Murphy
Interchanges: Peachey, Broadbent, Hansen, Clark
18th Man: Wood
Tries: I.Farrell (12’, 37’, 62’), Murphy (15’, 73’), Marsh (18’, 45’), Glover (33’, 39’, 69’), Hansen (47’, 58’), Halafihi (53’, 79’), Clark (67’)
Goals: Aston (5/6), I.Farrell (9/9)
Newcastle Thunder: J.Bradley, L.Bradley, Birch, Siddle, Rennison, Hepple, Mallinson, Harlow-Stephenson, Bate, Lowery, Burns, White, Newbound
Interchanges: Ohimor, Green, Skelton, Bibby
18th Man: Handy
Tries: Birch (21’), Newbound (29’)
Goals: Hepple (2/2)
Referee: D.Arnold
Attendance: 617
