'Special moment' as Sheffield RUFC beat Sheffield Tigers in RU derby

The Hornets ascended to the dizzying heights of third in National League Two after securing valuable bragging rights at Abbeydale Park on Saturday.

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post, Posa said: “It’s crazy as we were a lot a people’s favourites for relegation.

“We came up two seasons ago, last year we survived, and now we just keep getting better and better.

“We have a really good culture in the club and a good leadership team around me.

“The whole goal for this season was to look up and not down and look where we are now.

“We’ll see where that takes us.”

Posa’s side have now won six of their last seven matches, with a 19-19 draw with Tynedale being the anomalous result.

A concoction of their bonus point win over the Tigers and Wharfedale’s humbling 33-7 defeat away to second placed Rotherham Titans mean Sheffield head into the Christmas break two points ahead of their North Yorkshire rivals.

The hosts were good value for their Steel City derby triumph as they repeatedly and efficiently dismantled a resilient Tigers XV in Dore.

When asked what he felt after the final whistle, Posa only had one answer in mind.

“Pride,” he added. “I’m really proud because it was a typical derby game where little mistakes cost you, but we held our nerve and we adapted really well today.

“We’ve got three or four experienced players here, but the younger guys have really come through - half the team are under 23.

“It’s a special day for the club. It means a lot to a lot of people.”

For Sheffield Tigers, who travelled a mere mile from Dore Moor for the match, their sixth defeat this season means they slip from fifth to seventh in the table.

They will remain outside the top six until at least the new year, when they face a similarly local visit to Clifton Lane for a clash with high-flying Rotherham Titans.

Despite this somewhat dramatic fall, director of rugby Jack Howieson is not too disappointed with the Tigers overall position at the season’s midpoint.

“We’ll be in seventh place coming into Christmas, which if you’d given us that at the start of the year we’d have bitten your hand off,” Howieson told The Yorkshire Post.

“A top-six finish is our target from the start of the year and we’re still (close to) maintaining that.

“We’re still on target for what we’re wanting to achieve. We just want to maintain what we’re doing, pick up a few more wins in the new year and keep performing well.”

The former Sheffield Eagles prop was also highly complimentary about the hosts, who secured a league double over the Tigers following a 32-28 away win in September.

He added: “They’re playing really well at the moment and hitting some really good form.

“It’ll be a tough ask for anyone to get into that top two, but the way they’re playing they’re pushing for third, fourth or fifth.

“They’ve got as good a chance as anyone of getting that third spot.”

Although both sides had agreed to celebrate the festive season with post-match drinks, this occasion was never going to be anything but a steely affair in the wispy Dore climate. The hosts raced into an early lead through Ryan Burrows, who bundled over for his ninth try of the season.

Homegrown scrum-half Elliot Fisher then set the tone with a perfectly executed conversion.

The Tigers, however, refused to succumb and duly responded with a Will Baker penalty.

Persistent force then allowed the visitors to take the lead when Josh Redfern unlocked a reckless Hornets’ line, with Baker’s conversion consolidating the overturn.

Sheffield managed to quell any further revolt as they decisively broke through via a Reece Bartlett-speared maul, and Fisher repeated his conversion trick.

It was a copy-and-paste job minutes later as a similarly left-sided maul brought about a Bartlett brace. With Fisher’s almost robotically-kicked conversion, the hosts were firmly in control by half-time.

The Tigers needed something fast, but such desires were quashed when yet another Sheffield maul, finished by Will Smith, crossed over. Fisher then squandered the following conversion. Any comeback hopes looked to be fading until a maul landed home a right-sided try before Baker’s skilful conversion.

A following attacking barrage resulted in a Joe Fitzsimmons touchdown and Baker’s kick meant both sides headed into the final minutes with a mere two-point gap.

But euphoria replaced anxiety when Burrows burst past the Reichwald Stand and laid on a decisive try for Chris Hooper, as the Glynn Chandler trophy stayed at Abbeydale.