SHEFFIELD EAGLES 50 DONCASTER 18
DAN FOWLER, Steel City Stadium, Sunday
SHEFFIELD powered their way past their South Yorkshire rivals to make progress.
The Eagles went into the tie with a 100 percent record against Doncaster in this competition, and it showed no sign of coming to an end on an afternoon when Craig Lingard’s men went wild.
Kris Welham and Titus Gwaze notched five tries between them, while Doncaster could only muster three of their own.
Sheffield spread their wings early on as Jack Walker found Ben Jones-Bishop with a cut-out ball, and the winger had the trusty Welham on the inside to open the scoring.
Cory Aston, eager to ease his kicking woes from Widnes a week prior, started the afternoon with a simple effort from under the sticks.
Walker and Aston were at the heart of Sheffield’s next try on 14 minutes, linking up on the last tackle with the latter going over.
Sheffield extended their advantage to three scores when Aston accepted the opportunity to knock over a simple penalty-goal, his third successful kick in a nine-from-ten tally.
The ending to the first half was pretty remarkable to say the least.
Three tries in quick succession, two going the way of Doncaster, meant the second period was well poised with just eight points between the sides.
Pauli Pauli, about as much of a thorn in Sheffield’s side as anyone, broke through the defensive line before squirming to the whitewash. Connor Robinson converted and he had the kicking tee back out just seconds later.
At first, Edene Gebbie’s control of Aston’s kick-off was questionable to say the least. However, he soon broke through the chasing Sheffield rearguard before setting debutant Harvey Horne away. Robinson’s goal put two points between the teams.
The final say of the half went the way of Corey Johnson, who managed to squeeze through the Doncaster defence and stretch to four points. Aston added the goal for 20-12.
Welham doubled his tally for the day on 49 minutes, getting an arm free and looking to offload but somehow having enough to get over the line himself. This time, Aston couldn’t convert.
Doncaster fullback Gebbie continued to have a torrid time with another miscued touch of an high kick before knocking on.
Directly from that, Sheffield broke and Alex Sutcliffe saw yellow for holding down. The ensuing penalty landed by Aston put 14 points between the teams at 26-12.
An unlikely connection gave Doncaster hope with 20 minutes remaining as Pauli’s grubber was fumbled by Walker and prop Josh Bowden swooped to score. Robinson converted.
But four more Sheffield tries put the game well and truly to bed.
A Gwaze double was backed up by centres Welham, for his hat-trick, and James Glover both dotting down, and Aston’s kicks brought up his team’s half-century.
GAMESTAR: An all-action 80-minute performance from Sheffield’s Titus Gwaze, with two tries for good measure.
GAMEBREAKER: Gwaze’s brace ended all hope for Doncaster.
MATCHFACTS
EAGLES
26 Jack Walker
2 Ben Jones-Bishop
3 Kris Welham
4 James Glover
21 Ryan Millar
6 Cory Aston
7 Morgan Smith
16 Blake Broadbent
9 Corey Johnson
10 Tyler Dickinson
11 Connor Bower
23 Alex Foster
13 Titus Gwaze
Subs (all used)
8 Eddie Battye
15 Evan Hodgson
18 Jack Bussey
20 Lewis Peachey
Tries: Welham (6, 49, 79), Aston (14), Johnson (40), Gwaze (65, 70), Glover (80)
Goals: Aston 9/10
DONCASTER
18 Edene Gebbie
28 Harvey Horne
4 Reece Lyne
3 Brad Hey
5 Bureta Faraimo
6 Ben Johnston
7 Connor Robinson
17 Josh Bowden
9 Greg Burns
10 Suaia Matagi
14 Jacob Jones
12 Alex Sutcliffe
8 Brad Knowles
Subs (all used)
11 Sam Smeaton
13 Loui McConnell
16 Pauli Pauli
24 Watson Boas
Tries: Pauli (36), Horne (38), Bowden (61)
Goals: Robinson 3/3
Sin bin: Sutcliffe (54) – holding down
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Eagles: Titus Gwaze; Doncaster: Pauli Pauli
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 12-0, 14-0, 14-6, 14-12, 20-12; 24-12, 26-12, 26-18, 32-18, 38-18, 44-18, 50-18
Penalty count: 10-4
Half-time: 20-12
Referee: Matty Lynn
Attendance: 648
Image credit: Jake Borill
