Eagles dominate Halifax in emphatic victory

In a dominant display by the Eagles, Mark Aston’s side produced an eighty-minute performance which sees see us remain joint-top of the Betfred Championship table alongside Wakefield Trinity.

Cory Aston achieved a remarkable milestone of achieving 1,000 career points after kicking seven conversions from eight on Sunday afternoon, whilst Joel Farrell also hit a big milestone as he made his 100th appearance for the club.

Aston named a handful of changes to his side which secured victory at Swinton Lions last time out as wingers Ben Jones-Bishop and Matty Dawson-Jones returned into the fold, whilst there were also starts in the forwards for Vila Halafihi and Aaron Murphy.

After an opening twenty minutes which proved nothing between the two sides, it was the Eagles who edged in front in the 22nd minute when Murphy latched onto Anthony Thackeray’s short-ball and went over to score to the right of the sticks.

James Glover capitalised on a James Saltonstall mistake as Sheffield scored back-to-back scores, before a brace from Jones-Bishop in the right corner in the final seven minutes of the half saw the Eagles extend the lead even further.

Aston kicked three conversions from four in the first forty minutes, edging them into a 0-22 lead at the break.

Halafihi opened the scoring five minutes into the second half with a scoot from dummy half as he went under the sticks to score, before Aston added the extras once again.

Matty Marsh was next to crash over to score after he spotted a gap in a tiring Halifax defence and he went over to secure his ninth try of the season, before Aston’s conversion was successful, seeing him achieve the big milestone of 1,000 career points.

Two tries in the final ten minutes saw Sheffield run away even further with their lead as Kyle Wood chased Jones-Bishop’s kick through to touch down against his former side, before Glover used his strength to power over from close-range for his second try of the afternoon.

Aston converted both tries once again, which saw Sheffield Eagles run out at 0-46 winners.

The Eagles are back in action next Sunday at home for the first time in five weeks when they take on Barrow Raiders at Olympic Legacy Park (3pm kick off).

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