Workington Town 12 Sheffield Eagles 42: Workington Town were outgunned and outclassed by a Sheffield Eagles outfit who sharpened their Championship talons on the home side.

Town were caught out several times in defence and could not find the finishing touch when they got near the try line.

At times they looked sharper, with Perry Whiteley and Karl Olstrom working hard. Graeme Mattinson made a couple of nice breaks when he entered the field of play.

But overall Sheffield were deserving of the win and Town have a lot to work on before they head to Dewsbury Rams next weekend.

Town started well and were looking dangerous as Callum Phillips jinked his way through the Sheffield defence. A melee on the last tackle saw Workington get another set of six and they almost made their visitors pay.

Stevie Scholey went close before Karl Olstrom was held up over the line and then Sheffield broke back up the opposite end of the field.

Rob Worrincy finished off a nice team move to go in at the corner, with Michael Knowles converting from the touchline.

And five minutes later they were over again. Sheffield were worrying Town on their try line and when the ball came loose, there was adjudged to be a hand in the tackle. Keal Carlile reacted quickly to dive over the line, Knowles adding the extras.

Worrincy could have extended the lead but knocked on with the line at his mercy, however seconds later they were over.

Menzie Yere fed Quentin Laulu-Togagae and he in turn slipped the pass to Worrincy as Town’s scrambling defence just got back to halt proceedings.

But they could not stop Adam Neal as he followed up with the try, converted by the reliable Knowles.

Town made a couple of costly mistakes near their own line and Sheffield made them pay. The ball was shipped quickly left and Yere was over the line. Another conversion from Knowles and Sheffield were 24-0 ahead.

Workington began to find their feet again with Ryan Verlinden and Jason Mossop going close but Perry Whiteley fumbled and the attack was halted.

Then, with three minutes to go until the break, Town got the break they had been searching for. Declan Hulme was halted inches short of the line but again the referee spotted a hand in there and played advantage as the ball came loose.

Jamie Doran was quickest to react and he touched down in the corner, with Carl Forber adding a great conversion from the touchline to make it 24-6 to Sheffield at half time.

Into the second half and Town received a couple of penalties in succession to take them 10 metres from the Sheffield line.

New signing Verlinden showed his power as he stormed towards the line, taking four defenders to pull him down. But, as the ball came away to the left, Jack Murphy could not hang on to it.

With 10 minutes of the half gone, Sheffield were encamped on the Town line and Matt Fozard dived over from dummy-half.

An altercation between the two sides was put on report on the hour and then, moments later, Sheffield were back on the scoresheet as Fozard stepped through a large gap in the defence on the last tackle to claim his second try of the afternoon, with Knowles converting both.

There was some cheer for Town fans as Graeme Mattinson stepped his way through the defence before linking with Forber to send in Murphy for a try. Forber added the extras to claw some points back.

This gave the home side some fresh impetus and Whiteley made a great break upfield but as the defence closed in he decided to dummy the pass rather than feed the supporting Declan Hulme. It didn’t work and he was halted in his tracks.

Sheffield were quick on the counter as they got the final word with a try for Cory Aston. Knowles kicked the last points on a disappointing afternoon for Town as Sheffield left with a 42-12 victory.

Workington Town: Murphy, Forrester, Hulme, Mossop, Carter, Forber, Doran, Coward, C Phillips, Scholey, Whiteley, Olstrom, McAvoy. Subs: Mattinson, Verlinden, Gordon, Rooney.

Tries: Doran (37), Murphy (67). Goals: Forber 2/2.

Sheffield: Laulu-Togagae, Worrincy, Yere, Tyson, Blackmore, Aston, Hewitt, Wheeldon, Carlile, Neal Knowles, Straugher, Stringer. SUBS: Fozard, Thorpe, James, Mexico.

Tries: Worrincy (12), Carlile (17), Neal (21), Yere (27), Fozard (50, 63), Aston (72). Goals: Knowles 7/7.

Referee: S Ansell.

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