Wheelchair Rugby League Challenge Trophy Round Up
16/05/2022
Sheffield Eagles Wheelchair Rugby League Challenge Trophy festival on Saturday 14th May ended with the side still searching for their first win of the season, but they earned huge respect from each of their opposition and made their opponents work for their wins as the team shows steady improvement.
The round-robin tournament, which saw the Eagles face League rivals Mersey Storm and Dundee Dragons as well as Championship South teams Gravesend Dynamite and Woodlands Warriors, took place at the University of Hull on Saturday 14th March, with games lasting 20 minutes, with the top four teams progressing to semi-finals. The games were played at the same time as the Challenge Cup for higher ranked teams, played in a similar format and provided more valuable game time for the side which is improving rapidly in its first season:
Sheffield Eagles 0 Woodlands Warriors 32
Sheffield kicked off the tournament with a tough game against the Championship South leaders, starting strong but ultimately unable to keep stem the flow of tries.
Eagles: Vicky Brooks, Stacey Roulson, Shaun Orton, Lottie Davis-Browne, April Brooks. Interchanges: Will Brooks, Emma Pearson, Jack Johnson
Sheffield Eagles 0 Dundee Dragons 8
The Eagles put in a strong showing against Dundee, holding firm defensively for a long period of the match against a team featuring many of the Scotland national team, showing promising signs by only conceding 2 tries, but unfortunately it was not enough to record a win.
Eagles: Emma Pearson, Stacey Roulson, Vicky Brooks, Lottie Davis-Browne, Shaun Orton. Interchanges: Will Brooks, April Brooks, Jack Johnson
Sheffield Eagles 4 Gravesend Dynamite 24
Another strong defensive effort for long stretches of the game tested Gravesend’s ability to breach the Eagles line and the Eagles themselves showed promise in terms of finding space and threatening the Dynamite offensively with several of their own breaks, with the highlight of the Eagles’ tournament coming with a Jack Johnson try who dodged tackles to record his third try for the club this season.
Eagles: Will Brooks, Emma Pearson, Jack Johnson, April Brooks, Stacey Roulson. Interchanges: Vicky Brooks, Shaun Orton, Lottie Davis-Browne.
Try: Jack Johnson
Sheffield Eagles 0 Mersey Storm 28
A feisty final game of the day saw the Eagles show their steel against the Championship North leaders, with several players from both sides finding themselves out of their chairs. A blistering line break from Shaun Orton was not enough to get Sheffield on the score sheet for a consolation in a Mersey win.
Eagles: Emma Pearson, Shaun Orton, Vicky Brooks, Stacey Roulson, Shaun Orton. Interchanges: Jack Johnson, Will Brooks, April Brooks.
The Eagles will next be in action on Sunday 22nd May when they travel to Wrexham to take part in the Peacock Cup, where they will play their first games on a full sized pitch, facing Rochdale Hornets, Torfaen Tigers and hosts North Wales Crusaders at Glyndwr University, Wrexham.
