SHEFFIELD EAGLES coach Craig Lingard sends his side into action against London Broncos today (Sunday) with a blunt message: “Stick to the blueprint.”
The experienced team chief has been boosted by landing Huddersfield duo, centre Darius Carter and backrow Jack Billington, on season-long loans.
But he was left seeing red after his charges lost 32-20 at Bradford – after leading 18-8 at the break.
It was the fourth time this season the Eagles had lost after holding a half-time advantage – and it has left Lingard demanding a positive response in the contest in the capital.
“The second half was embarrassing,” he said of a collapse at Bartercard Odsal which took the shine off halfback Cory Aston, once a Bradford loan player, passing the 1,000 points mark for Sheffield.
“We had got ourselves into a position to win. Not only were we 18-8 up at half-time, but we then kicked a penalty (following a delay for a worrying injury to Eagles forward Masi Matongo) and were facing twelve men (after a yellow card for Elliot Peposhi).
“But by the hour, we were behind, and it’s clear that we’re struggling to deal with any kind of adversity. As soon as something goes against us, we crack. It’s happened more than once this season.”
Lingard added: “For whatever reason we didn’t stick to the plan in the second half. It all fell apart.
“We knew what the game would be like, and the first half panned out exactly as we thought. At 20-8 up, we needed to control the situation we were in, but instead we crumbled.
“There’s no two ways about it, that second half just wasn’t good enough, and it devastates me that we missed out on a massive opportunity to beat Bradford on their own patch.
“Playing well for 40 minutes isn’t generally going to be enough to win at this level – we have to stick to the plan, particularly when it is clearly working.”
