Hawks tame the tigers

Sheffield Tigers 2’s 22-31 Heath Hawks

Heron, Whitworth, Johnson, Haigh, Ward, Dawes, Sharp, Wilkinson, Granger, Scrimshaw (c), Firth, Owen, Morrison, Bruce, Bloem.

Subs: Thomson, Rowntree, Cadogan. 

Tries: Bloem (2), Firth, Wilkinson, & Morrison. 

Cons: Scrimshaw (3)

⭐️Star Player - Joe Morrison⭐️

The Hawks travelled to Dore Moor confident of picking up their second league win of the season.

In atrocious conditions the Hawks started well, controlling the ball up front with strong drives by George Heron, Brook Ward and Matthew Wilkinson. After a couple of half breaks by wingers Jake Firth and Jack Bruce, the away team were on top. From a dominant scrum just inside the Tigers half, new signing Jordan Bloem collected a ball from Tom Owen, pushed his way past a couple of would-be tacklers before using his speed to score a great try, Olly Scrimshaw converted.

From deep inside their own half, Heath moved the ball right to left to free Firth who used his lightning speed to run clear. Two phases later, Bloem made the break before passing inside for Firth to finish, Scrimshaw converted.

Sam Sharp took the kick off superbly and charged back into the defence. Carter Haigh and Rondene Johnson kept the Hawks on the front foot. Player of the match Joe Morrison caused havoc all afternoon, from a powerful 30 metre burst he found Bloem with the offload to finish out wide. 

The Tigers pressured the away team's line, Max Dawes, Wilkinson and Ward strong in defence to repel attacks with brilliant goal line defence. However, the pressure finally told as the Tigers crashed over from close range. Harry Granger linked forwards and backs well with his well weighted passes and decision making. James Whitworth at hooker, improved the Hawk’s set piece, ensuring good ball all game and a platform to attack from.

Unfortunately, Bloem had to leave the field with an ankle injury, with his replacement Zak Thomson making an immediate impact breaking clear from a scrum move. From close range, Wilkinson continued his great try scoring form, burrowing his way over. Half time 5-24. 

Heath had put together a superb half of rugby, mixing strong defence with superb finishing. However, it was the Tigers who started the second half on top, with their powerful back rower finishing well.

The returning Max Rowntree replaced Granger at scrum half and was immediately involved, making a great break from the scrum base only to offload to the grateful home winger who scampered untouched to reduce the lead to 9 points. Morrison left the field with a shoulder injury, Phil Cadogan coming onto the wing. Rowntree redeemed himself with a couple of great breaks and Thomson ran clear only to land awkwardly in a challenge. The game was paused as he was stretched from the field with a worrying looking knee injury, Morrison returned. 

The Hawks were back on top, Scrimshaw unlucky not to extend the lead, as his penalty attempt drifted wide. Firth made another break and Owen went hard at the line before Morrison took a short pass to power through for a deserved try, Scrimshaw converted. The Tigers scored a good try from close range, taking advantage of a tiring defence. This was the last play of the game, full time 22-31.

This was an excellent team performance against a good side, showing how the Hawks can compete at the highest level. Hopefully, Zak and Jordan recover quickly, as we look forward to our next challenge.

UTHH 👊🦅