Match Report | Sheffield Eagles Women Red 26-16 Oulton Raidettes
13/08/2024
By Barry Wood
The Sheffield Eagles Women Red team played Oulton Raidettes in this round 15 fixture, having defeated their opponents away 32-48 in May, and much like that game this one would prove to be a hard fought tense affair, the outcome not certain until near the end. In addition the Eagles were down to a squad of 15 against a full strength opponent on a hot cloud free summer’s afternoon.
The Eagles put themselves under pressure from the kick-off. From the conceded scrum Oulton mounted an assault on their left which the Eagles repelled at first, but after driving one charge back from the goal line the defence either side of the ruck went too wide, and Oulton dummy half MacFarlane nipped through the space to post an early try in the 2nd minute 10m in from the flag. Conversion missed for 0-4.
The next Oulton set didn’t progress far due to an error on the last play, a handover to the Eagles on halfway. The third Eagles play engineered a break down the left, winger Price brought down short of the line by the covering fullback, the referee being 23m away and unable to adjudicate the touchline, which was cast in deep shadow. Anyhow from the play-the-ball Wood and Rihari intelligently moved the ball 18m in field beyond the immediate concentration of Oulton defenders and into the hands of charging prop Auger, who hit the hole between the two defenders on the inner fringe, carrying them over for a try 12m to left of the posts, Thomas converting for 6-4.
Over the next fifteen minutes, the Eagles were able to make great inroads into the Oulton half and enjoy most of the territorial advantage, but they unable to finish off their attacks either through handling errors, incorrect lines of running or decision making. Eventually though one of the teams had to break the deadlock and that was Oulton. Finally Oulton managed to penetrate deep into the Eagles half where they concentrated their attack against the Eagles left edge which at first seemed to have defended it out with numbers ready for the next play. Unfortunately those numbers did not come forward together, block the dummy half sneak and and hunt down the first three receivers. With sharp side-steps right then left Oulton’s loose forward Thompson wrong-footed the waiting defenders beside the ruck and dived through in the 22nd minute to make the score 6-8, conversion unsuccessful.
Play resumed in much the same fashion as before. In the 35th minute a 5v1 chance materialised on the right out of the blue with just the fullback to beat in the distance, but it was the last tackle, the eyes weren’t up, and the ball was duly touch-kicked, handing possession back to Oulton albeit 5m from their own line. And that proved to be an Eagles temporary salvation. Oulton fumbled their second exit play, scrum to the Eagles 10m out centre-field. The first four plays were targeted back and forth across the Eagles right which had the effect of dragging much of the Oulton defence to that side of the field. Then the ball was shipped three passes left to Tierney who broke through to cross 10m to the left of the posts in the 37th minute, the conversion unfortunately going wide. Score 10-8.
The Eagles then promptly made a mess of the kick-off reception and conceded a scrum 30m out. In three plays Oulton were within 5m on their left. Dummy half MacFarlane faked as though going to pass left but instead zipped off down the right side into the now weakly protected hole to crash over in the tackle 7m to the left of the posts in the 40th minute. Surprisingly the conversion was missed and the two sides went to half time at 10-12.
Half-Time: Sheffield Eagles Women 10 – 12 Oulton Raidettes
After witnessing Oulton’s last minute try exploit in the first half, it was the turn of the Eagles to reprise the action but in their favour and almost in the same place. Firstly a stunning break by Wood took the Eagles from their own 20m to 15m out from the Oulton line to set things up. Then the Eagles make hard work of finishing it off by spurning an obvious 3v0 overlap on the right. Eventually after several plays helped by a six-again call, Tierney was stopped short on the left, and up stepped Wood again to dive down the left side of the ruck 9m to the left of the posts in the 44th minute, but the conversion was missed, score 14-12.
And so the war of attrition continued for the next ten minutes when a late hit on the last tackle kick got the Eagles a penalty 33m out on their right edge. Prop Frederick-Maynard on play one got to centre-field within 19m, then in the next play everyone got their lines right. Wood’s pass from the play-the-ball went left to half back Rihari, who in turn sucked in two defenders before throwing a perfectly weighted pass to second rower Tierney coming fast and back against the grain, slicing through to touch down unopposed 6m to the left of the posts in the 55th minute. Thomas converted to give the Eagles a two score margin lead at 20-12.
However Oulton were not for giving up and with some refereeing fortune of their own, they got close enough to score in the 68th minute with a short side play that caught the Eagles outnumbered, right winger Nix narrowing the difference in the corner to 20-16 for a tense last period.
Then came the try of the match in the 75th minute. From the back of an Eagles scrum on their own 20m line, Wood went left and drew 3 defenders, rode the tackle of one and offloaded to prop Auger in support. With outstanding pace Auger sprinted 70m to dive over under the posts resisting the despairing grab of a chaser. Thomas converted to extend the Eagles lead to the final score of 26-16.
The last few minutes saw Oulton put the Eagles under intense pressure, but the Eagles held out to go on and march up field to the final whistle.
Full-Time: Sheffield Eagles Women 26 – 16 Oulton Raidettes
Eagles Tries: Auger(2), Tierney(2), Wood
Goals: Thomas (3/5)
Oulton Tries: MacFarlane(2), Thompson, Nix
In conclusion. in spite of team sheet upheaval again and only having two substitutes, the Eagles fought hard for each other to tough out another victory, which is good preparation as they go forward to the play-offs, now in second place in the Championship table 6 points clear of the third place team with three games to go.
The coaches’ player of the match went to Danie Tierney who was a total nuisance to the opposition, and the captain’s to Rebecca Dex for stepping up again and becoming ever more confident in the fullback role.
