Tigers denied after Ionians strike late

Hull Ionians 30 Sheffield Tigers 23

Hull Ionians scored in the final minutes to gain the bonus point victory denying Sheffield Tigers a share of the spoils after having levelled the scores eight minutes earlier.

The hosts applied early pressure forcing a penalty after Dave Marshall and Sam Wilson kicked and chased and the pack drove on for Danny Hague to peel off and dive over.

Tigers came back through three penalties from Johnny West to take the lead, although Oli Marns raced over in the corner to restore the home team’s advantage at the break.

With the wind advantage after the break, Ionians created a penalty for Marshall, before he stepped up to convert Adam Thomas’s try.

Jamie Broadley broke several to run under the posts for Sheffield, with West converting, but Marshall again replied with a penalty.

With 10 minutes to go, West converted Peter Swatkins’s try to level the scores but, from an attacking scrum, Adam Thomas broke to send replacement Sam Bowring under the posts to win the match with a try converted by Marshall.

Stockport 14 Harrogate 15

A LATE try from Ryan Peacey saw Harrogate come from behind to edge out Stockport in a thrilling finale.

Harrogate started the stronger and Mike Aspinall showed quick thinking after a penalty had been awarded by playing a tap-kick and diving over to score.

An Aspinall penalty then made it 10-0 to the visitors. After being denied a try by some resolute tackling, Stockport hit back from the scrum with No 8 Dan Eccles squeezing over in the corner for a try.

Josh Longmore converted as the hosts then took control of the game for the rest of the half.

The pressure from the hosts continued after the break, but Stockport’s next try actually came from Harrogate driving the hosts’ scrum backwards. The referee spotted something illegal and Stockport opted for a five-metre scrum from the penalty, with Jordan Pearson, scoring from the drive to set up Longmore for the conversion.

As the final whistle loomed, after being awarded a five-metre scrum, a free-kick was awarded for a Stockport offence, allowing Peacey to win the match.