Edinburgh  Eagles 16 Blackwood Bulldogs 28

 

Edinburgh Eagles fell at the 2^nd Round hurdle in the Carnegie Challenge Cup for the 2^nd year running, as Blackwood Bulldogs made it a victorious weekend for Wales over both codes. Eagles put on quite a show with the Challenge Cup on display at the impressive Meggetland Sports Complex, but came up short against a very impressive Bulldogs side.

It started so well for Eagles when prop John Cox bundled over after 11 minutes, with Andy Grodynski converting. Blackwood then took control of the game with the impressive full back David James scoring after 14 minutes, Gareth Price adding the extras to level the scores.

Gareth Dare then added back to back tries for Bulldogs, giving them a 14-6 lead with 10 minutes of the half remaining. Eagles finished the half stronger however, and Jonny Smith made a break with some impressive footwork, before putting in winger Cieran Watson for the score, Grodynski converting again to leave Bulldogs with a 2 point lead heading in at half time.

Eagles were caught sleeping at the start of the 2^nd half, when a short restart kick was recovered and subsequently scored from by Bulldogs.  They extended their lead when David James went over again, but Price failed with the conversion. Man of the match James then completed his hat trick after 54 minutes with another break away try, Price converting this one to give the Bulldogs a 24-12 lead.

Dare completed his hat trick to see the Bulldogs home and dry, although a late Barry Earl try and some late pressure from Eagles gave the home fans, Bulldogs managed to hold on to their lead and finish the game 28-16 winners and progress to the 3^rd round.

Eagles head coach was disappointed but conceded the Blackwood side were worthy winners;

"We had a lot of possession within their 20m, but couldn't convert chances into points, whereas they scored some great long range tries and finished really well and thoroughly deserved to progress in the competition. Our lads were full of effort and put in some massive hits, and now we have to pick ourselves up to win the Scottish Conference again, as this is the platform we deserve to play on."

Giles Lomax, Eagles club captain, was full of praise for his teammates and urged them to make sure Challenge Cup rugby becomes a feature event for Edinburgh;

"The boys gave absolutely everything, and it just wasn't our day, some things just didn't click into place for us. This is where we all want to be playing, the back room staff have worked so hard to organise a really good day, and we are just disappointed we couldn't progress for the crowd that came down. Credit to Blackwood however, they were very worthy winners and we wish them the best of luck in the next round."

Bulldogs now go into the draw for the 3^rd round which takes place on Tuesday 16^th February, and will be hoping for a big draw against a Championship or Championship 1 side which could prove to be a money spinning tie.

Edinburgh Eagles

1.       Nick Broere

2.       Callum Anderson

3.       Richard Knight

4.       Jonny Smith

5.       Cieran Watson

6.       Seb Trotter

7.       Andy Grodynski

8.       Ash Carroll

9.       Giles Lomax

10.   John Cox

11.   Richard Johnston

12.   Barry Earl

13.   Mike Wallace

14.   Roddy McKenzie

15.   Olly Foster

16.   Niall Parkinson

17.   David Anderson

Blackwood Bulldogs

1.       David James

2.       Trevor James

3.       Luke Knight

4.       Gareth Price

5.       Gareth Dare

6.       Kristian Perry

7.       Jeremy Lloyd

8.       Christopher Williams

9.       Byron Williams

10.   Adam Coupe

11.   Gareth Davies

12.   Stuart Vokes

13.   Mathew McCovern

14.   Gareth Hutchinson

15.   Clarke Morgan

16.   Aaron Elliot

17.   Andrew Coupe

GAMESTAR:  Bulldogs fullback David James always looked a major threat and was rewarded with 3 well taken tries.

GAMEBREAKER:  Eagles looked threatening throughout the game and a comeback looked possible until Gareth Dare's final try took the Bulldogs too far ahead with little time on the clock.