Tigers tamed by familiar adversaries

■By ANDREW SMITH

Sheffield Tigers…. 13

Sheffield………………22

SHEFFIELD maintained their unbeaten start, edging their way to a three-try victory in a fiercely contested encounter at local rivals Sheffield Tigers.

First-half tries from Alex Reid and Will Smith provided the platform, but the Abbeydale-based side had to work hard in a tense second-half period.

The visitors looked in control early on, but were unable to convert pressure into points.

Against the run of play, Tigers snatched a six-point lead through two quickfire Mark Ireland penalties, despite a yellow for Ben Crowe.

Sheffield bounced back with prop Alex Read forcing his way under the posts for a converted try.

A second Tigers yellow for Will Bennet allowed Smith to squeeze over in a corner with the last play of the half.

The hosts came out strongly after the restart. Sheffield’s Dom Parsons saw yellow, but poor line-out ball saw Tigers spurn chances.

The visitors then pushed further ahead when Chris Hooper crossed. In the hosts’ best spell, Crowe forced his way over, with Ireland’s conversion reducing the deficit to 1319. Tigers went looking for the win, but were undone in stoppage time when a Callum Posa penalty sealed it.