Manchester Swinton Lionesses 32 Sheffield Eagles 10
Alan Dixon at Heywood Road
At the second time of asking, the Lionesses league campaign kicked off with a battling victory over Sheffield Eagles.
The Lionesses got off to a bad start when they lost Olivia Harborow to a serious knee injury in the second minute. This set back did not deter them and they were soon putting pressure on the Eagles line. A smart kick through by Tamika Bull was taken by Sheffield on their own line. They knocked on trying to get away from their own line. From the resulting scrum, Tamika Bull passed the ball out to Amber Harmon who went through the Eagles defence to score. Maddie Higson converted. Four minutes later they were in again. The Eagles knocked on in their own half of the field. From the scrum, the ball was moved out to Sammi Simpson who crashed through the Eagles defence to score. Maddie Higson added the extras. Sheffield went on the attack but lost the ball near the Lionesses line. Tamika Bull collected the ball and raced 35 metres before being tackled. The ball was moved out to Amber Harmon who put Grace Arrowsmith through a gap to race 40 metres to score. Maddie Higson was unable to convert.
Sheffield were soon on the attack but, they conceded a penalty for offside near the Lionesses line. From the penalty, Eve Ashcroft broke through the Eagles defence to go on a 35-metre run. The ball was eventually moved out wide to Chloe Newbigging who cut inside to score. Maddie Higson converted. Ash Hyde broke through the Lionesses defence to set up the Eagles next attack; An Eve Ashcroft tackle prevented her from getting to the line. She tried to pass it to a teammate, but her pass was intercepted by Chloe Newbigging who set up the Lionesses next attack. They soon got into the Sheffield half. The ball was moved out wide to Grace Pritchard who spun out of the grasp of two tacklers to race 20 metre to score under the posts. Maddie Higson converted to give the Lionesses a 28-point lead.
It was a scrappy start the second half. Neither side could keep hold of the ball. The Lionesses conceded a penalty which allowed the Eagles to back on the attack. After being tackled close to the Lionesses line, a wayward pass was sent out wide to Tilly Davies who kicked the ball into the in-goal and won the race to score. Kayleigh West was unable to convert from wide out. Poor handling by the Lionesses allowed Sheffield to apply more pressure on their line.
The Eagles pressure eventually paid off. They put up a high ball which was dropped by Grace Pritchard. She reacted to words by Sheffield’s Jess Panayiotou and was sent to the sin bin. From the penalty, the ball was moved out wide to Sian Judd who went over in the corner. Frankie Townend added the extras. The Lionesses managed to hold out for the remainder of the sin binning. Once at full strength, they went back on the attack. Georgia Briggs put Grace Arrowsmith through a gap near the line, but it was pulled back for a forward pass. The Lionesses next attack resulted in a high ball being dropped by Favour Irimagha. From the scrum, Morgan Pearson passed the ball out to Tamika Bull who drew in the Sheffield defence before passing the ball out to Grace Arrowsmith who drew in the winger before passing it onto Grace Pritchard to score in the corner. The conversion was missed.
Teams:
Manchester Swinton Lionesses: Eve Ashcroft, Chloe Newbigging, Sydney Alderman-Smith, Grace Arrowsmith, Grace Pritchard, Tamika Bull, Maddie Higson, Georgia Lake, Olivia Harborow, Amelia Newton, Sammi Simpson, Amber Harmon, Georgia Briggs. Subs: Leila D’Symonds, Yasmin Parton Sotomayor, Tiegan Shaw, Morgan Pearson. 18th Player: Amelia Morton.
Tries: Harmon (8), Simpson (14), Arrowsmith (18), Newbigging (25), Pritchard (30,78)
Goals: Higson 4
Sheffield Eagles: Favour Irimagha, Tilly Davies, Sian Judd, Bettie Lambert, Kayleigh West, Amy Boardman, Frankie Townend, Hailey Swann, Rachel Eastwood, Jess Panayiotou, Abigail Simpson, Ash Hyde, Caitlin Washington. Subs: Evie Crowther, Phoebe Evans, Brooke Price, Shannon Fyfe-Jones.
Tries: Davies (50), Judd (64)
Goal: Townend
Pens: 5-6 Half Time 28-0 Referee: Joshua Dowse
