Doncaster beat rivals Sheffield Eagles for first time in eleven years

DONCASTER 19 SHEFFIELD EAGLES 6
DAN FOWLER, Eco-Power Stadium, Friday

DONCASTER’s Good Friday was in fact a great one as they got past their nearest and dearest rivals Sheffield for the first time, in competitive action, since 2014.

In a game where penalties were aplenty, Doncaster were dangerous in attack and tenacious in defence – the likes of two-try Edene Gebbie, Suaia Matagi and Jacob Jones all having eye-catching games, whilst scrum-half Connor Robinson marshalled his troops well.

After two early penalties went the hosts’ way, one of those culminating in Eddie Battye’s sin-binning for a high tackle, they broke the deadlock on twelve minutes.

Gebbie, who was righting the wrongs after a torrid time against Sheffield in the 1895 Cup earlier in the year, provided the finishing touch to a smart move although Robinson was unable to convert from the touchline.

The Dons’ numerical advantage vanished soon after when Matagi saw yellow for a high shot on Connor Bower.

Doncaster continued to snuff out any hint of danger from their opposition before extending their advantage halfway through the first half.

Gebbie will have been thinking of the headlines as he made a break prior to being brought down by Harvey Horne. Josh Bowden followed with a big effort up the middle before the last tackle saw the hosts power over through centre Reece Lyne. On the other touchline this time, Robinson made no mistake with a sweetly-struck conversion.

As Eagles centre Kris Welham tried rallying his troops with a call for more energy, it was Doncaster who kept coming with just that – this time with back-to-back solid defensive stints on their own line to keep Sheffield at bay.

The Dons had chances of their own to further their tally before the interval, with Craig Hall collecting a cross-field kick from Robinson but unable to find a team-mate with the offload before Luke Briscoe was put into touch close to the Eagles’ line.

After a flurry of penalties to start the second half – four in the space of ten minutes, two for either side – it was Sheffield who made the most of their territory.

With a six-again going their way on Doncaster’s line, it took just one extra effort for Blake Broadbent to latch on to Reiss Butterworth’s flat pass. Cory Aston’s conversion brought the visitors to within four points of their hosts.

They wouldn’t get any closer, though. The day belonged to the Dons, who kept their opponents from even reaching double figures as they showed some fine defence whilst Sheffield turned the screw.

With two consecutive sets of six defended, Doncaster earned a relieving penalty to send their belief sky high. Robinson bounced off a challenge and liked the look of an overlap on the left wing and Gebbie collected to complete his brace.

Despite not kicking the conversion, Robinson would make amends with two consecutive penalty goals to put the Dons 18-6 to the good in the latter stages.

There was still enough time for Hall to rub salt into the Eagles’ wounds with a field-goal in the final minute of play.

It was a great response from Doncaster after their shellacking at York whilst Sheffield continue to blunder in Craig Lingard’s debut campaign.

GAMESTAR: Edene Gebbie can be rocks and diamonds, but thankfully for Doncaster he was the latter with two tries in this match.

GAMEBREAKER: Connor Robinson’s back-to-back penalty goals put Doncaster twelve points up with time running out.

MATCHFACTS
DONCASTER
1 Craig Hall
5 Luke Briscoe
4 Reece Lyne
3 Brad Hey
18 Edene Gebbie
24 Watson Boas
7 Connor Robinson
17 Josh Bowden
9 Greg Burns
10 Suaia Matagi
14 Jacob Jones
12 Alex Sutcliffe
13 Loui McConnell
Subs (all used)
15 Jordan Baldwinson
21 Tyla Hepi
23 Jason Tali
28 Jack Charles

Tries: Gebbie (11, 68), Lyne (21)
Goals: Robinson 3/5
Field-goals: Hall (80)
Sin bin: Matagi (17) – high tackle

EAGLES
1 Matty Marsh
34 Harvey Horne
3 Kris Welham
11 Connor Bower
5 Matty Dawson-Jones
6 Cory Aston
7 Morgan Smith
10 Tyler Dickinson
9 Corey Johnson
20 Lewis Peachey
35 AJ Wallace
36 Brad Martin
13 Titus Gwaze
Subs (all used)
8 Eddie Battye
14 Reiss Butterworth
16 Blake Broadbent
18 Jack Bussey