Dewsbury Rams 28 - 46 Sheffield Eagles

Match report by Ossy.

This is a strange old game. There are days when the odd shaped ball can bounce in the wrong direction; days when lady luck seems to be looking the other way, and days when the officials conspire against us. Today was none of those. Today we got exactly what our play deserved - a good thumping.

It started badly with Andrew Bostock limping off after 4 minutes with a hamstring injury that might keep him out for four weeks. As he was being helped round the touchline Kevin Crouthers went over for the first try wide out on the left to get the fans singing, though Francis Maloney was unable to add the conversion kicking into the strong wind.

The Eagles came back right away. Uncertainty at the kick off, a problem that plagued The Rams all afternoon, led to an Eagles scrum and Greg Hurst going over wide out on the right. On the 10 minute mark, good handling from Preece and Spink, put Alex Bretherton in on the right, though the strong wind drifted the conversion wide at the last minute.

Another kick off, another Rams mistake and Pickering, the Eagles hooker ran through unopposed to score, goaled by Woodcock and after 15 minutes Rams were behind 8 - 10. Mistakes from the home side continued to make life difficult, and indiscipline saw them give away an easy penalty which Woodcock put over to increase their lead.

At this point it was pretty much even stevens, and this time it was The Rams who took advantage of the kick off, Hobson, hanging back, took the ball on the run and burst through down the middle, setting up Josh Weeden for another try, goaled by Franny and The Rams were back in front at 14 - 12.

After some Rams pressure around the 25 min mark, the ball was squeezed out on the 5th tackle and Danny Maun went over in the corner on the Main Stand side. After a brief fracas, Eagles centre Reid was red carded, Maloney missed the goal but Rams were ahead. Not playing well, but ahead.

Right away, more uncertainty at the kick off led to the Rams kicking out into the wind from beneath their own posts and, a moment later, sub Holdstock ran through a huge gap to score. Woodcock goaled again and the scores were level again at 18 all. Even now, a break down the right from Bretherton almost worked a try for the Rams, but the final pass went astray, and on the stroke of halftime, a penalty from just inside his own half from Woodcock edged the Eagles in front 18 – 20.

To be honest, it could have been worse. The chat on the South stand was still fairly optimistic. With the wind in our favour, and the way Dean Lawford’s been kicking of late, I think most of us felt the second half would be played out in Eagle country. Especially when they were down to 12 men.

Surely a good rollacking from Andy would tighten up a sloppy defence, and get the Rams going forward we thought. The first 5 minutes of the second half soon dispelled that dream. Eagles were over twice in the first five minutes, though held up on both occasions, and the Rams discipline began to waver. The ground gained from a good kick from Weeden was immediately lost by conceding a penalty; a sight that became all too familiar in this half. The Eagles seemed to want it more at this stage. Their forwards took the ball up well before releasing the backs, and they looked dangerous whenever they got into the Rams half.

A combination of poor discipline, inept tactical kicking and uncertain tackling meant that much of the play took place in the Rams half, and it was only a matter of time before the Eagles added to their score. This they did courtesy of a brace of tries from Woodcock, both of which he converted, and they seemed out of sight at 18 –32.

Between Woodcock’s tries, Francis Maloney and Jon Aston had been yellow carded, and only an excellent tackle from Bretherton stopped them going straight down the middle and adding to their total. For a few minutes the Rams looked like they might come back. A try in the corner from Lee Close sparked them off at last. They began playing with more purpose and Ian Preece twisted out of a tackle on the Eagles’ line to force his way over. Maloney goaled, we were back at 28 – 32 and at last we had a game. Leigh all over again, more snatching irons out of fires stuff we thought.

No such luck. Some sloppy play in our own 22 first gave the Eagles the ball, and then a penalty. We were undisciplined, gave away too many penalties and allowed the Eagles to play the game in our half. The outcome was inevitable. Late tries from Brown and Holdstock, both goaled by Woodcock sealed matters. 28 – 46 and Wembley must wait another year.

Still my disappointment wasn’t over. As what was left of the crowd moved to the front of the South Stand to greet the team, they were ignored in favour of stretching exercises and cooling down. Sorry, but I think that was a mistake. A successful club is built on three things; the team, the management and the spectators. Take any one of the three away and the whole structure fails. Many of those spectators went on cheering to the final whistle, and that fact should have been recognised by the players.

Still, some brutally honest appraisals in the Royal suite after the match from both Mark and Andy. Particularly the latter’s rallying cry after admitting he was ashamed of our performance today :- ‘This is the calm before the storm. Be afraid Batley – be very afraid.’