Match Report | Stanningley 0-18 Sheffield Eagles Women Red
05/08/2024
By Barry Wood
The Sheffield Eagles Women Red team played Stanningley’s women’s side in this scheduled round 14 away fixture at Stanningley ARLFC, having defeated their opponents at home 36-6 at the end of April.
Unfortunately the Eagles on this occasion had to field a side of only 14, missing all five of its international players i.e. all of its regular spine, but which in turn provided deserved opportunities for Dex, Steel and Mundy from the Gold side with the latter two on debut. Those factors coupled with experienced loanees Rihari and Lambert filling in on a first time basis at the halves meant it was difficult to know how things would turn out against a strengthened Stanningley side.
In consequence it proved to be a hard battle. With so many changes some of the fluidity in attack was lost with things being a bit clunky, but slowly the side settled into a rhythm. What was not lost was the defensive determination that has been built up over previous weeks, which was made evident when the Eagles had to defend out a repeat set from a goal line dropout in the 9th minute.
Nevertheless a 0-0 stalemate carried on for the first 25 minutes of the half. Eventually a scrum to the Eagles on their 25m followed by five strong plays moved the Eagles to within 30m of the Stanningley line and the last tackle play. Working from centre field to the right, this time the ball wasn’t kicked. Instead the experienced Rihari spotted that the opposition was short against the Eagles right side attack. Evident chat between Rihari and Rainey meant that a move was on. Rihari’s draw and pass promptly put the straight running Rainey through a hole. Rainey drew the winger who had retired expecting a last tackle kick, and the ball was passed into the hands of Clarke playing at right centre. Clarke finished the move, stepping inside the covering fullback to score 12m in from touch in the 27th minute. Everything you want from a try : vision, communication, speed and execution. Tierney converted for 0-6.
A brief attempt at a riposte came from Stanningley after the Eagles allowed the kick restart to bounce into touch, but that came to nought when Stanningley were penalised for crossing. After that the Eagles spent much of the remainder of the half camped in the Stanningley half, with the latter unable to execute a way out, and the Eagles confounding themselves with their clunky attack.
Half-time: Stanningley 0 – 6 Sheffield Eagles Women
From the Eagles kick-off Stanningley surrendered the ball on their second play at their 20m line. Multiple drives came close to scoring and then one was held up over the line. The play-the-ball 10m back saw the ball go left to second rower Tierney, whose speed and strength found a way to bust through and over 6m in from the left touchline early in the 42nd minute. Tierney duly converted too to widen the score to 0-12.
After another combination between Rihari and Rainey got the Eagles deep into Stanningley territory, wide plays firstly to the left and then to the right should have resulted in a try, but white line fever thwarted the first easy chance and lack of experience the second.
The next ten minutes returned to stalemate until the Eagles made their way deep down their left. A penalty for high contact then got them to within 12m of the Stanningley line. A settler play took things to the left of the posts. Halves Swann and Rihari then combined with the latter giving a show and go on a fast arcing run to the right, enabling a drift through unopposed 8m to the right of the posts in the 54th minute. Tierney converted easily for 0-18.
Again the Eagles fluffed the kick restart reception handing over possession to Stanningley just inside the Eagles half. Then things ground to a halt in the next set when a serious injury developed into requiring on-field ambulance assistance and a long wait. The clock ticked on to 66 minutes whereupon the referee and coaches agreed to abandon the game.
Full-time: Stanningley 0 – 18 Sheffield Eagles Women
Eagles Tries: Clarke, Tierney, Rihari
Goals: Tierney (3/3)
In conclusion. in spite of the team sheet upheaval and only having one substitute, the Eagles never looked like conceding a try and were constantly able to demonstrate good go-forward. It was just simply a fact that the lack of familiarity of so many players being chucked in together for the first time brought a few problems with the attack, which is to be expected, but nonetheless it was a resilient and determined performance from all the team.
