Sheffield 16 Liverpool St Helens 17

LSH continued their good start to the league season with this hard-fought victory which consolidates their position near the top of the table.

Following the pre-season departure of some experienced men, the side now contains a number of younger players, but a strong team spirit has developed, resulting in a new determination in their attitude and play.

LSH started strongly with some cohesive forward drives and two well-struck penalty goals by Paul Cummin gave them an early lead. But Sheffield gradually worked their way back into the game, and inventive running by their three-quarters, coupled with intelligent kicking by their stand-off, created pressure positions from which they were able to kick two penalty goals to tie the game at 6-6 at half-time.

The forward exchanges were closely contested throughout, with LSH working hard to subdue their larger opponents, and first phase possession was equally shared at both scrum and line-out.

The Sheffield backs always looked dangerous but good defensive work by the visitors, with Liddle and Carter to the fore, gradually subdued their threat, and Cummin led a number of counter attacks with his strong running from full back.

After a further exchange of penalty goals, LSH scored a decisive try when Neil Brooks cleverly intercepted a stray pass and was able to score virtually unopposed. Cummin was unable to convert, but within minutes was successful with a long-range penalty goal which put LSH into a 17-9 lead.

Sheffield refused to fold and in the last 10 minutes they attacked incessantly through their forwards. The LSH defence held firm with some brave tackling, particularly from skipper Dave Lupton, Nick Jones and David Waite, and it was only in the last minute that Sheffield were able to score a converted try which came too late to affect the result.

Whilst the quality of the current squad continues to develop well, there is a need to add players to increase the strength in depth and the coaching staff continue to look for players interested in trying their hand at National League rugby at a high level.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.