HALIFAX PANTHERS 14 SHEFFIELD EAGLES 28
DAN FOWLER, The Shay, Friday

SHEFFIELD EAGLES registered back-to-back Championship victories, getting the better of a gutsy Halifax Panthers.

Eagles winger Billy Walkley continued his fine form with two more tries whilst playmaker Jordan Abdull had a hand in everything the visitors did well.

There were positive signs for Halifax, despite their indiscipline, as Darius Carter made plenty of metres whilst Will Brough showed some nice touches.

The Eagles opened the scoring after three minutes as Abdull and Kieran Gill combined but as the centre was going to ground, he found the perfect offload for the onrushing Joe Brown to sweep over. Abdull couldn’t convert.

Sheffield extended their advantage on 18 minutes, with another offload causing havoc for the Halifax rearguard. Full-back Brown and Connor Bower exchanged passes, leading to open space for winger Ryan Millar to dive over in the corner. Abdull was on target from the touchline.

After gaining possession from a kick which was knocked on by Millar, Halifax made the most of their newfound territory. Leigh Leopards loanee Brough looked to have overcooked his kick to the corner but Ben Tibbs did magnificently well to bat the ball back into play for Owen McCarron to dot down. Lawford’s conversion attempt went wide of the mark.

The Halifax fans were getting increasingly agitated with the referee as the half went on, the hosts were penalised on multiple occasions and that indiscipline would come back to bite them. Firstly, a ball steal on Alex Foster gave Eagles an easy two points – via Abdull – to take their lead out to two scores.

With five minutes to go of the half, an offside call from a Lawford chip over the top meant Sheffield were knocking on the Panthers’ door once more. It needed prop forward Lewis Peachey to bash it down, a powerful run from close range too much for the hosts to deal with. In a change of kicker, Kai Morgan converted to give Sheffield a 4-18 half-time lead.

Abdull’s boot kept causing problems for the Panthers and his monster bomb, which was left to bounce, fell kindly for Walkley to touch down on 49 minutes. The half-back couldn’t convert.

Similar to the hosts’ first try, Brough came up with the goods in the lead-up as his nicely delayed pass sent Tibbs over in the corner. A sweet strike from Lawford gave Fax hope at 10-22.

That hope intensified as the hour mark approached as a crucial Eagles knock-on deep in their own half was pounced upon immediately, Alfie Johnson finding his way to the whitewash. It was still a two score deficit though, as Lawford’s kick sailed wide.

Steady heads were needed in the Eagles camp and they regained their composure. In the final quarter, fast hands from Abdull and Gill helped send Walkley through for his brace. Abdull didn’t convert.

Halifax looked to have life with four minutes to go as they went through a gaping hole in the Eagles defence but that space had been made by an obstruction on Kai Morgan.

From the following set, the Eagles won a penalty as Fax were guilty of escorting those chasing an Abdull kick. An easy choice for the visitors to kill the game by going for two points, which Abdull duly provided.

GAMESTAR: Jordan Abdull ran proceedings for the Eagles as his creative game – both with ball in hand and on boot – proved vital.

GAMEBREAKER: Billy Walkley’s second try of the evening regained Sheffield’s two-score lead in the final quarter.
MATCHFACTS

PANTHERS
1 Will Brough
4 Alfie Johnson
22 Darius Carter
19 Zack McComb
2 Ben Tibbs
6 Jesse Soric
17 Myles Lawford
18 Hugo Salabio
20 Vila Halafihi
33 Delaine Gittens
13 Jacob Fairbank
12 Owen McCarron
8 Will Calcott
Subs (all used)
7 Curtis Davies
15 Connor Davies
16 Zach Fishwick
21 Ben Forster

Tries: McCarron (23), Tibbs (54), Johnson (59)
Goals: Lawford 1/3

EAGLES
2 Joe Brown
21 Ryan Millar
19 Will Oakes
4 Kieran Gill
5 Billy Walkley
6 Kai Morgan
27 Jordan Abdull
22 Masi Matongo
9 Corey Johnson
10 Martyn Reilly
11 Connor Bower
3 Josh Hodson
17 Harry Bowes
Subs (all used)
14 Reiss Butterworth
16 Blake Broadbent
20 Lewis Peachey
23 Alex Foster

Tries: Brown (3), Millar (18), Peachey (37), Walkley (49, 68)
Goals: Abdull 3/6, Morgan 1/1

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-4, 0-10, 4-10, 4-12, 4-18; 4-22, 10-22, 14-22, 14-26, 14-28

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Panthers: Darius Carter; Eagles: Jordan Abdull

Penalty count: 4-8
Half-time: 4-18
Referee:James Vella
Attendance: 1,412