MATCH REPORT: London Broncos 20-22 Sheffield Eagles
Jake Watson • 12 May 2025
LONDON BRONCOS V SHEFFIELD EAGLES (by David Ballheimer)
London Broncos (12) 20, Sheffield Eagles (4) 22
London Broncos suffered a hugely disappointing defeat against Sheffield Eagles at Rosslyn Park. It was not a particularly good match; two teams desperate to win but not entirely sure how to achieve it. The Broncos certainly encountered serious misfortune before and during the match which affected their chances of victory.
Before the game kicked off, London had to make a change to their 17. Huw Worthington, one of the replacements, had to drop out and he was replaced by Ben Hursey-Hord, the original 18th man. There is little doubt that Worthington’s experience would have been an asset, especially in the second half.
Sheffield had the first early pressure, but did not really threaten the London line. In the 15th minute, the Broncos broke the deadlock. Kian McDermott made a powerful break into the Sheffield half, but the support was not close enough for a pass. The broken Eagles defensive line was on the back foot and Jack Farrimond danced through it to touch down. Chris Hellec added the extras.
The restart nearly ended in disaster for London as the ball ended up in Sheffield hands 25 metres out. The Eagles, however, couldn’t take advantage and a wayward pass out to the right wing ended the scoring opportunity.
London weren’t so fortunate five minutes later. Former Bronco Jack Bussey, the best player from either side in the match, cut through London’s defence and although he was brought down 15 metres from the line, the Eagles fed the ball out to the left wing and Jack Glover was able to ground the ball by the corner flag. Another former London player, Cory Aston couldn’t improve the score.
The Broncos’ next misfortune came in the 31st minute when skipper Will Lovell received the most unpleasant late birthday present, an accidental collision with an Eagles player. He lost the ball in contact and didn’t get up. After a period of treatment, Lovell left the pitch for a head injury assessment, which he was to fail.
London again made good yards on their next possession but knocked-on 25 metres from the Sheffield line. The scrum went horribly wrong for the Eagles, the ball being passed into no-man’s land in their backfield. As they dithered, Alex Walker and Farrimond sniffed blood – or, more accurately, the ball. The ball was kicked towards the try-line, and it was Farrimond who beat Walker in the chase, so he completed his double and the acting skipper’s career try total remained on 99. Hellec made it 12–4 at half-time.
Sheffield dominated the second half and took the game away from the Broncos. Six minutes after the resumption, on a seven-tackle set from their 20, on the zero-tackle London knocked-on. The Eagles took full toll as Ollie Roberts crashed over from close range beside the posts, and Aston cut the deficit to two points.
The Broncos’ restart went too wide, and a Sheffield player pushed the ball over the sideline. The touch-judge signalled the Eagle had been on the touchline when he leapt, so the restart was ruled to have gone out on the full and Aston’s touch-finder from the 50 went out on London’s 20. Sheffield didn’t score from this, then had a try disallowed for a forward pass down the left wing in the 56th minute.
Connor O’Beirne made his long-awaited return following his long lay-off after an hour and he made an immediate impact, playing at hooker. He made a break, that Walker continued until he was brought down 20 metres from the Sheffield line. The Eagles struggled to get back into the defensive line and when Louix Gorman was tackled, the tackler was penalised. Hellec kicked the penalty to stretch the advantage to an unconverted try.
In the 67th minute, after completing the fifth tackle, London were slow to get off a tackled player and the referee signalled for a repeat set of six tackles – it was the only one of the match, when many other instances (by both teams it must be stressed) might have been similarly punished. This time the Eagles accepted the gift, skipper Corey Johnson bulldozing his way over the line, beside the posts. Aston’s conversion gave Sheffield their first lead of the game.
The score deflated the atmosphere and, from here on, there seemed only one likely winner, and they weren’t wearing black. Within a couple of minutes O’Beirne went down in a tackle some fans felt was high. Treatment to his ankle suggests the height of the hit wasn’t the issue. Five minutes later, a much-loved former ‘Man in black’ Eddie Battye, a star of London’s 2019 Super League campaign, forced his way over from close range. His celebration was distinctly muted.
O’Beirne had bravely tried to continue, but when he tried a long pass, the ball wobbled out of his grasp and he realised he could not continue. London kept possession of the ball and, out of nothing, scored a try to give them a scintilla of hope. Gorman picked received a pass down the left side on the Broncos’ 40-metre line. He burst forward and through two tacklers, ran past another Eagle, stepped out of last-man Harvey Horne’s grasp and dived over the line. Hellec wasted no time in kicking the conversion.
The Broncos now had 40 seconds to score a try or force a penalty near enough the posts which would give them at least a point. After the hooter sounded, Farrimond kicked downfield but there were enough Eagles in position to fall on the ball and secure their victory.
London Broncos: 6, Luke Polselli, 2 Chris Hellec, 20 Aaron Small, 14 Louix Gorman, 5 Liam Tindall, 1 Alex Walker, 34 Jack Farrimond, 12 Sadiq Adebiyi, 9 Curtis Davies, 16 Kian McDermott, 11 Will Lovell, 19 Lukas Mason, 13 Marcus Stock. Replacements: 7 Connor O’Beirne 22 Matt Ross, 18 Ben Hursey-Hord, 27 Taylor Kerr 18th man: Huw Worthington.
Tries: Farrimond (15, 34), Gorman (79)
Goals: Hellec 4/4
Sin-bin: none
Sheffield Eagles: 34 Harvey Horne, 21 Ryan Millar, 3 Kris Welham, 4 James Glover, 5 Matty Dawson-Jones, 6 Cory Aston, 7 Morgan Smith, 8 Eddie Battye, 9 Corey Johnson, 10 Tyler Dickinson, 24 Oliver Roberts, 23 Alex Foster, 18 Jack Bussey. Replacements: 14 Reiss Butterworth, 15 Evan Hodgson, 16 Blake Broadbent, 34 Darius Carter. 18th man: 20 Lewis Peachey.
Tries: Glover (22), Roberts (47), Johnson (68), Battye (77)
Goals: Aston 3/4
Sin-bin: none
Referee: Ryan Cox
HT: 12–4
Penalty awarded count: 4–2
Attendance: TBA
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