13/07/2025

The Eagles were defeated on the road this afternoon 24-12 by Oldham RLFC at Boundary Park.

Eagles Head Coach Craig Lingard was looking for his side to bounce back from a three-match winless run and return to winning ways but faced a tough task as we came up against an Oldham side who sat 4th in the league table.  

For the trip to Oldham, Kris Welham marked a major milestone by making his 100th club appearance for the Eagles, whilst there was also a debut in the halves for Danny Craven.

Connor Bower returned to the side to feature in the halves alongside Craven, whilst there was a return to hooker for Corey Johnson.

Jack Bussey was also named on the bench for the first time in a couple of weeks, who made a recovery from injury for the trip up to the North West.

After an even opening to proceedings in Oldham, it was the home side who led as a quick-fire double from Matty Ashurst saw the hosts go into a 10-0 lead after only eighteen minutes.

The Eagles responded shortly after to get back into the game as Connor Bower’s pass out wide was finished off in the right corner by Ryan Millar.

After Bower was unable to convert with the boot from the touchline, the hosts responded immediately as another quick-fire brace, this time by Kieran Dixon, saw Oldham extend their lead to 20-4, heading into half time.

Only four minutes after the restart, Craven went over to score against his former side to pull us back into the game, making the most of an Oldham error on halfway to pull the score back to 20-8.

Things got even better for the Eagles with twenty-two minutes to go as we pulled the game back to 20-12 as Welham marked his 100th Eagles appearance with a try in the right corner.

The missed conversion attempts proved costly in the end for the Eagles as a try late on by Owen Farnworth rounded off a 24-12 victory for the home side.

 

Oldham RLFC: Laulu-Togaga’e, Agoro, O’Keefe, Davies, Dixon, Smith, Drinkwater, J. Chapelhow, Wildie, Farnworth, Taylor, Ashurst, Milner

Interchanges (all used): Pelissier, T. Chapelhow, Johnson, Baxter

18th Man: Aldridge

Tries: Ashurst (15’, 18’), Dixon (36’, 39’), Farnworth (78’)

Goals: Dixon 2/5

 

Sheffield Eagles: Walker, Millar, Welham, Hodson, Walkley, Bower, Craven, Battye, Johnson, Broadbent, Farrell, Foster, Gwaze

Interchanges (all used): Butterworth, Bussey, Roberts, Reilly

18th Man: Peachey

Tries: Millar (21’), Craven (44’), Welham (58’)

Goals: Bower 0/1, Hodson 0/1, Craven 0/1

 

Referee: S. Mikalauskas