Sheffield Eagles 30 Dewsbury Rams 16: Dewsbury suffer after Eagles spark fightback

Errors in defence by the Eagles provided the assists as the Rams raced into a 16-0 lead in the opening 13 minutes.

Dewsbury managed to keep a grip on the game but critically couldn’t add to their lead and the Eagles whittled away the advantage in the second 40 minutes.

Coach Mark Aston said it was a “frustrating” first half adding: “In the second we put the wrongs right, it was back to basics, we played behind a kicking game a bit and ground Dewsbury down.”

Dewsbury went ahead on four minutes with hooker Matthew Tebb sneaking in from dummy half.

Misi Taulapapa’s hesitation gifted Dale Morton a touch down. Poor defence on the right helped Morton claim a second and Bobbie Goulding converted the first two tries.

Forwards Mitch Stringer and Colton Roche helped drag the Eagles into the game but it wasn’t until six minutes into the second half they got a try from Quentin Laulu-Togagae.

Former Dewsbury stand-off Patch Walker claimed the next and Eagles took the lead on 61 minutes when Dominic Brambabi’s kick was fumbled and Matt Garside went in under the posts for the hosts.

Dewsbury were flagging and Andrew Henderson’s quick tap sent Stringer in and Taulapapa’s afternoon ended on a high with a try. Brambani kicked all five goals.

Rams’ coach Glenn Morrison bemoaned second-half errors from his team.

“It’s about being smart. I’m proud of the effort but they need to be smarter for 80 minutes,” he said.

He added: “The first half we stick to the game plan but for some reason second half they try to do things on their own instead of sticking to what’s got them in front.”

Sheffield Eagles: Laulu-Togagae; Turner, Yere, Armstrong, Taulapapa; Walker, Brambani; Howieson, Henderson, Stringer, Knowles, Staugheir, Hirst. Substitutes: Davey, Esposito, Garside, Roche.

Dewsbury Rams: Morton; Scott, Pryce, Cosgrove, Buchanan; Brown, Goulding; Lillycrop, Tebb, Spiers, Hale, Hepworth, Hyde. Substitutes: Jones, Gallagher, Johnston, Beckett.

Referee: G Hewer (RFL).