WORKINGTON TOWN 16 SHEFFIELD EAGLES 28
DAVE PARKINSON, Fibrus Community Stadium, Sunday

A SUPERB first half from Sheffield Eagles saw them build what proved a match-winning 24-0 advantage by half-time.

They scored five of their six tries during a dominant first forty minutes, when Town struggled to contain the Eagles’ direct style of forward play that was combined with a tricky kicking game from their
recent signing Jordan Abdull.

Initially, the teams went set for set, before a penalty for the Eagles put them on the front foot and Blake Broadbent took Harry Bowes’ pass to stretch out under the posts.

Abdull goaled to make it 0-6 and when Sheffield flooded forward in the 20th minute, Joe Brown tapped a pass left for Billy Walkley to score his first try.

Six minutes later some superb hands on the last tackle brought several notable offloads before Bowes kicked right and Ryan Millar was on hand to step inside and improve the angle for Abdull’s conversion to make it 0-16.

Town finally applied some pressure of their own but Bear Williams was forced to hand over on the last tackle.

At the other end Lennie Ellis added to Sheffield’s lead when he scored a quality individual try when some neat footwork took him past three players.

And when Walkley dived over acrobatically on the left just before half-time after Kieran Gill won possession just ahead of Mason Lewthwaite, it was 0-24, with Abdull only managing to kick two of his five goal attempts.

Early in the second half, Sheffield punished another Town error when Walkley dived over from dummy-half for his hat-trick and although Abdull missed the conversion for the fourth time, the Eagles led 0-28.

Having earlier lost Oscar Doran to injury, Dom Wear joined him on the touchline, but Workington rallied when Zarrin Galea fired a pass left for Rio Corkill to score Town’s first try after 55 minutes, with Jake Carter converting.

Ten minutes later Galea carved through on the right but the Eagles’ defence brought Jake Carter down close to the line. The ball quickly went left through Galea and Braden Leigh for Corkill to score his second try.

Callum Phillips then saw a try disallowed for offside as he chased through a well-placed kick.

With five minutes remaining Town gained further consolation when a shallow grubber kick from Jamie Doran was touched down by Corkill for his hat-trick and Carter added the goal, but the afternoon belonged to the Eagles.

GAMESTAR: Sheffield’s Masi Matongo gave a brilliant performance to push the Eagles to a 0-24 lead before also impressing in his second spell.

GAMEBREAKER: Billy Walkley’s second try at the end of the first-half gave Town too much to do.

MATCHFACTS

TOWN
1 Zarrin Galea
29 Jake Dickinson
4 Braden Leigh
3 Rio Corkill
2 Oscar Doran
6 Jake Carter
7 Dom Wear
17 Lucas Castle
14 Callum Phillips
25 Bear Williams
11 Mason Lewthwaite
26 Tuarae Rawhiti
9 Jamie Doran
Subs (all used)
22 Ben Hartill
15 Callum Farrer
13 Jack Stephenson
16 Guy Graham

Tries: Corkill (55, 66, 75)
Goals: Carter 2/3

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

Tries: Broadbent (9), Walkley (20, 37, 45), Millar (26), Ellis (33)
Goals: Abdull 2/6

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-10, 0-16, 0-20, 0-24; 0-28, 6-28, 10-28, 16-28

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Town: Rio Corkill; Eagles: Masi Matongo

Penalty count: 7-6
Half-time: 0-24
Referee: Milo McKelvey