Sheffield Eagles 42-12 Widnes Vikings

Widnes Vikings were beaten 42-12 by an impressive Sheffield Eagles in Round 5 of the Betfred Championship.

The Vikings found themselves 24-0 down before tries either side of half-time from Ryan Ince and Danny Craven pulled them back into contention.

However, the hosts extended their lead from the boot before adding three further tries, two of which were length-of-the-field efforts.

It is the Vikings’ second league defeat of the season, with attention now turning to the Betfred Challenge Cup next weekend.

Team news

John Kear made just one change from the side that defeated Halifax Panthers 42-14 on Monday night.

With regular winger Kieran Dixon struggling with illness, Ryan Ince came into the 17 to replace him.

Story of the game

The hosts came out of the blocks quickly, and it took just eight minutes for them to hit the front.

After an abundance of field position, they finally made their territory count as a shift of play towards the left flank saw Matty Dawson-Jones cross in the corner after a cut-out pass took Ryan Ince out of the game.

They added to their advantage five minutes later through Ben Jones-Bishop, who showed his strength to muscle his way over, 10m in from the left touchline.

The Eagles soon had back-to-back tries, and it was Titus Gwaze who found himself on the scoresheet. An offload from Cory Aston found the big loose forward, and he powered through the defensive line and touched down under the posts.

15 minutes before the break, a loose offload from Shane Grady was pounced upon by Dawson-Jones and the winger streaked clear to grab his second try of the afternoon.

The Vikings needed a response before half-time, and a try was forthcoming moments before the break. Ince rushed out of the defensive line to hit his man hard, strip the ball free and race the best part of 65m to touch down.

Danny Craven added a second try for the Vikings six minutes into the second half, making it 24-12. With men on the outside, the tricky half-back stepped back inside off his left foot and ducked over to score his second try in as many matches.

The Eagles soon extended their lead to 14 thanks to the boot of Aston, who continued his perfect record from the tee.

Both sides were temporarily reduced to 12 men before the hour mark, with Craven sent to the sin-bin after denying a quickly-taken 20m restart before Eagles forward Joel Farrell was sat down for 10 minutes after a ruck infringement.

The Vikings were left frustrated on their next forays into opposition territory, Jack Owens, Matty Fozard and Matty Fleming all going close but ultimately being denied by some strong defence close to the line.

Those missed chances proved to be decisive as Brandon Douglas soon crashed over under the posts, making it 32-12.

There would be further disappointment for the Vikings as a crossfield kick from Craven was gathered in the air by Matty Chrimes, who escaped the initial tackle before racing the length of the field.

It would be the Eagles who had the final say as they capped off an impressive display with another long range try, Aston grabbing himself a four-pointer after intercepting Joe Lyons’ cut-out pass and racing downfield to dive over.

Next game

Saturday 11 March – Wests Warriors (H) – 3pm

Teams and scorers

Sheffield Eagles: Matty Chrimes, Ben Jones-Bishop, Kris Welham, Bayley Liu, Matty Dawson-Jones, Cory Aston, Anthony Thackeray, Brandom Douglas, Vila Halafihi, Tyler Dickinson, Aaron Murphy, Joel Farrell, Titus Gwaze.

Interchanges: Evan Hodgson, Mikey Wood, Blake Broadbent, Jesse Sene-Lefao.

Tries: Dawson-Jones 2, Jones-Bishop, Gwaze, Douglas, Chrimes, Aston

Goals: Aston 7

Widnes Vikings: Jack Owens, Ryan Millar, Matt Fleming, Joe Edge, Ryan Ince, Danny Craven, Joe Lyons, Adam Lawton, Matty Fozard, Kyle Amor, Shane Grady, Sam Wilde, Liam Bent.

Interchanges: Callum Field, Ant Walker, Lewis Hatton, Ollie Davies (18th man: Aaron Brown).

Tries: Ince, Craven

Goals: Owens 2