Match Report: Sheffield Eagles
London Broncos 48 - 04 Sheffield Eagles
London Broncos maintained their unbeaten start to the Betfred Championship campaign with an eight-try result against Sheffield Eagles. London scored two tries within the first four minutes.
The match also marked Will Lovell’s 202nd appearance for the club, equalling the record previously set by Steele Retchless.
London opened the scoring in the first minute when Reagan Campbell-Gillard passed to Morea Morea, who broke forward. Dean Hawkins supported the play, collected the pass and scored under the posts. Jimmy Meadows converted.
From the restart, Sheffield conceded a penalty. From the resulting possession, London advanced and Morea Morea scored near the right corner before moving closer to the posts to ground the ball. Meadows converted.
Sheffield attempted to score after approximately eight minutes following a penalty, but the referee ruled the final play was held short of the try line.
In the 16th minute, Sheffield conceded a penalty for an illegal ball steal on the fifth tackle, giving London a new set of six. On the final play, the ball was moved to the right wing, where Liam Tindall scored in the corner. Meadows’ conversion attempt was unsuccessful due to wind conditions.
Sheffield’s defensive sets resulted in tackles close to their own line, and their possessions often ended with kicks from within their own half. In the 31st minute, Epel Kapinias scored from close range near the posts. Meadows converted.
After handling errors limited further scoring opportunities, London added another try just before half-time. Brandon Webster-Mansfield, acting from dummy half, shaped to pass and then ran to the right to score near the corner. Meadows’ conversion attempt was unsuccessful.
At the start of the second half, Sheffield made a handling error inside their own 30-metre area. From the resulting scrum, Morea Morea scored his second try after receiving a pass from Elliott Wallis and grounding the ball. Meadows converted from near the touchline.
Sheffield advanced towards the London try line following two penalties, but a misplaced pass resulted in a loss of ground, and Ryan Millar was tackled two metres short on the final tackle.
London’s next possession ended with Kapinias scoring from approximately 15 metres out. Meadows converted.
In the 54th minute, Sheffield scored when Joe Brown passed to Billy Walkley, who grounded the ball near the corner post. Kai Morgan’s conversion attempt was unsuccessful.
Later, Ben Hursey-Hord charged down a kick from Morgan and regained possession near Sheffield’s 10-metre line. Following a penalty, Gairo Voro carried the ball and scored after moving past defenders. With Meadows off the field, Morea Morea took the conversion and was successful.
In the closing stages, both teams made handling errors inside the Sheffield half. A penalty awarded to London approximately 10 metres from the Sheffield line led to a kick at goal, which was successful as play ended.
London Broncos: 1 Morea Morea, 5 Liam Tindall, 20 Brandon Webster-Mansfield, 2 Elliot Wallis, 26 Neil Tchamambe, 23 Gairo Voro, 7 Dean Hawkins, 8 Reagan Campbell-Gillard, 18 Jimmy Meadows, 10 Emarly Bitungane, 11 Luke Smith, 21 Will Lovell, 13 Siliva Havili. Replacements: 6 Connor O’Beirne, 16 Epel Kapinias, 17 Marcus Stock, 19 Ben Hursey-Hord. 18th man: 3 Robert Mathias.
Tries: Hawkins (1), Morea (4, 42), Tindall (16), Kapinias (31, 48), Webster-Mansfield (39), Voro (66).
Goals: Meadows 6/7, Morea 1/1, Voro 1/1
Drop goals: None
Sin-bins: None
Sheffield Eagles: 2 Joe Brown, 21 Ryan Millar, 3 Josh Hodson, 4 Kieran Gill, 5 Billy Walkley, 6 Kai Morgan, 18 Lennie Ellis, 10 Martyn Reilly, 17 Harry Bowes, 22 Masi Matongo, 13 Jack Bussey, 23 Alex Foster, 15 George Griffin.
Replacements – Jimmy Beckett, 14 Reiss Butterworth, 16 Harry Broadbent, 20 Lewis Peachey, 18th man: 9 Corey Johnson.
Tries: Walkley (53)
Goals: Morgan 0/1
DG: None
Sin-bin: None
Referee: Denton Arnold
HT: 28–0
Penalty awarded count: 5–5
Match Report by David Ballheimer
