REPORT | Sheffield Eagles 50 Dons 18 (AB Sundecks 1895 Cup)

The Dons bowed out of the AB Sundecks 1895 Cup following defeat at Sheffield Eagles.

Pauli Pauli and debutant Harvey Horne found the line for Horne’s side in the final minutes of the first half, but the visitors trailed by eight points at the interval.

Josh Bowden added another try for the Dons after the break, but the Eagles tightened their grip on proceedings to reach the quarterfinals of the competition.

Horne made two changes to the side that started against Featherstone Rovers on the opening day of the Betfred Championship campaign, with Hull KR-loanee Horne coming in alongside Brad Knowles.

The teams were evenly matched in the early stages with both sides playing out sets, but the hosts opened the scoring after six minutes.

The Eagles shifted play out to the right, and a gap opened up for Kris Welham to slice through and cross by the posts. Cory Aston added the extras.

Aston was at the centre of the Eagles’ action again after a quarter of an hour when then the hosts left the stand-off free in the centre to go over uncontested. The number six then successfully converted.

Bureta Faraimo made a superb run to make good yards down the left-hand side, but his offload was knocked on by Edene Gebbie.

The Dons found their best chance yet when Greg Burns dived over the line, but the hooker was held up by the Eagles defence.

But despite the Dons looking to have gotten a foothold on play, the hosts extended their advantage to 14 points thanks to Aston’s successful penalty kick.

Horne’s men responded well this time and found the line after 36 minutes. Loui McConnell turned left from centre and found Pauli, who powered through to scramble over the line. Robinson added the extras.

There was time for the Dons to make further inroads before the break, and they found the line again two minutes later. Gebbie trapped the kick and ran the full length of the pitch to hand to Horne, who scored on debut. Robison successfully converted again.

But just as the Dons had got themselves within two points, the Eagles responded on the hooter. The hosts attacked through the centre and left Corey Johnson to stretch for the line. Aston again converted.

Pauli came close again after the break, but he was held up inches from the line.

The hosts received play 20 metres out after a knock on and capitalised on the opportunity. Welham charged at the right-hand side and held off Dons men to go over for his second of the day.

Alex Sutcliffe was sin-binned after 54 minutes as Aston added another two points with a successful penalty kick.

The Dons weren’t to roll over and responded just after the hour mark. Pauli kicked through on the last tackle and Bowden capitalised on a spill to find the line. Robinson added the extras.

The Eagles provided an instant response when Titus Gwaze got on the end of a break and went over. Aston kicked through the posts again.

Gwaze was in again moments later as he found a gap to secure his brace before Aston pinned another conversion.

The Dons looked for a route back into the cup tie, but the Eagles found two late tries to complete the scoring through Welham and James Glover. Aston converted both.

Dons: Gebbie, Horne, Lyne, Hey, Faraimo, Johnston, Robinson, Bowden, Burns, Matagi, Jones, Sutcliffe, Knowles. Interchanges: McConnell, Smeaton, Pauli, Boas.