Craig Lingard begins Sheffield Eagles tenure with win at Doncaster

DONCASTER 10 SHEFFIELD EAGLES 26
CHRISTIAN LEE, Eco-Power Stadium, Sunday

CRAIG LINGARD’S tenure at the Sheffield Eagles got off to a strong start as his side recorded a hard-fought pre-season victory over Doncaster.

Second-half tries from Connor Bower and Corey Johnson, added to first-half efforts from Mallinson, Glover and Roberts, were enough to seal victory for the Eagles over their South Yorkshire rivals. 

It was a fast start for the Eagles, who raced out to an early 12-0 lead inside the first 15 minutes.

Oliver Roberts crashed over from close range for the opening try of the game before Jack Mallinson added a second off the back of some deft hands from Tyler Dickinson. The prop regathered Cory Aston’s low kick-through on the last before offloading to Mallinson, who was backing up on his outside. 

Aston was able to convert both tries. 

Mallinson could have had another minutes later when Sheffield broke down the right, but he was unable to keep hold of Oliver Roberts’ pass back inside. 

The Eagles eventually added to their lead following a handling error from Craig Hall at the back just short of the half-hour mark. A slick set play from the ensuing scrum saw Aston put James Glover over the line untouched with a deft short pass. Aston’s conversion attempt was pushed wide to the left.

Doncaster had threatened to peg back their deficit prior to Glover’s try and they hit back with their opening try of the game moments later when Edene Gebbie forced his way over the line despite the attention of three Sheffield defenders.

Connor Robinson was unable to convert, meaning Sheffield held onto a 12-point lead heading into the break. 

Doncaster’s hopes of a fightback were halted ten minutes after the break when Sheffield were the first to cross the line in the second half. 

Off the back of a penalty for a high tackle, Sheffield spread the ball right to debutant Jack Walker, who skilfully flicked the ball out of the back of his hand to Connor Bower, who was in space on the wing and dived over. Aston was unable to add the goal.

As both teams wrung the changes the game opened up and Doncaster began to enjoy the giant’s share of possession.

Brad Hey and Isaac Misky both went inches close to scoring and, after the latter effort, the ball was spun wide to Ben Johnston who used his speed to get on the outside of his opposing defender and held him off to dive over and score.

Craig Hall made no mistake with the conversion to close the gap to ten points with ten minutes to go.

Doncaster continued to push to reduce the deficit further as the game wound down, but it was the Eagles who put the game out of reach in the final moments.

Off the back of a penalty, Sheffield worked their way towards the Doncaster line before Corey Johnson burrowed over from dummy-half to register a debut try for his new club, sealing a 26-10 victory.

GAMESTAR: Cory Aston had some lovely touches at halfback, playing a part in all three of Sheffield’s first-half tries.

GAMEBREAKER: Doncaster’s early surge in the second half was thwarted by Connor Bower’s try following some Jack Walker magic on the 50-minute mark which put the game out of reach for the Dons.

DONCASTER
1 Craig Hall
5 Luke Briscoe
4 Reece Lyne
3 Brad Hey
2 Bureta Faraimo
24 Watson Boas
7 Connor Robinson
22 Matthew Laidlaw
20 Isaac Misky
25 Ilikaya Mafi
14 Jacob Jones
11 Sam Smeaton
13 Loui McConnell
Subs (all used)
9 Greg Burns
18 Edene Gebbie
6 Ben Johnston
12 Alex Sutcliffe
23 Jason Tali
28 Joe Ward
– Andrew Gill
– Zach Jebson
26 Owen Haldenby

Tries: Gebbie (33), Johnston (69)
Goals: Robinson 0/1, Craig Hall 1/1

EAGLES
1 Ben Jones-Bishop
21 Ryan Miller
11 Connor Bower
4 James Glover
5 Matty Dawson-Jones
6 Cory Aston
– Jack Mallinson
16 Blake Broadbent
9 Corey Johnson
10 Tyler Dickinson
24 Oliver Roberts
12 Joel Farrell
13 Tendai Gwaze
Subs (all used)
14 Reiss Butterworth
15 Evan Hodgson
18 Jack Bussey
17 Mitch Clark
20 Lewis Peachey
26 Jack Walker
22 Masi Matongo
23 Alex Foster
25 Jayden Billy

Tries: Roberts (8), Mallinson (13), Glover (29), Bower (51), Johnson (80)
Goals: Aston 3/5

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-12, 0-16, 4-16; 4-20, 10-20, 10-26

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Doncaster: Isaac Misky; Eagles: Cory Aston

Penalty count: 4-3
Half-time: 4-16
Referee: Aaryn Belafonte
Attendance: 731