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Sheffield Tigers RUFC
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(Established 1932)
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A National League 3 North Club
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  Sheffield Tigers 1st XV
Triple Trophy Season
2004-2005
[ Junior Vase Final ] [ Yorkshire League 2 Champions ] [ Yorkshire Shield Final ]
RFU PowerGen Junior Vase Final 2004-05
Solihull 13 - Sheffield Tigers 30
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Tigers Squad:
Back Row: Chris Peel, James Norris, John Storey, Matt Wood, Ed Knaggs, John Ashley, Harry Toews, Alan Wall
Middle Row: Neil Pearson, Ian Cutts, Matt Walker, Rob Pound (Captain), Anthony Parkin, Richard Butler, Eugene Martin, Doug Trivella
Front Row: Rudolf Froneman, David Holmes, Tim Fearn, George Leach, Wayne Warren
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16/04/05 - Tigers 1st XV Triumph at Twickenham Again in RFU PowerGen Vase Final
Solihull 13 - Sheffield Tigers 30
On a sunny spring Twickenham morning hundreds of Tigers supporters had gathered for the early start at 10am kick-off for the RFU PowerGen Junior Vase Final.
In ideal playing conditions Tigers kicked off and early pressure resulted in a Tigers put in to a scrum on the Solihull 22 metre-line. From the scrum, scrum-half Neil Pearson made a blindside break and passed inside to flanker Chris Peel who was tackled short of the Solihull line. Tigers forwards quickly recycled the ball and the backs spun it out wide to give full-back Matt Walker the space to round the Solihull defence and score in the corner. Eugene Martin missed the difficult conversion. The Solihull restart was not taken cleanly and the Solihull forwards regained control of the ball and drove into the Tigers 22. Tigers were penalised in the ruck and the Solihull full-back James Quantrill scored an easy penalty to bring the score to 5-3 after 4 minutes of play. From the restart, Tigers kept Solihull in their 22 and again pressure resulted in a Tigers scrum. From the scrum, Tigers moved the ball rapidly along the three-quarters to feed Walker coming into the line at pace who then ran through to score in the corner. Martins conversion just drifted wide leaving the score at 10-3. Solihull restarted and again Tigers turned over the ball to put themselves under pressure as Solihull were starting to play with more authority. Solihull kept the ball through a number of phases and were rewarded with another penalty wide out on the Tigers 22. Their full-back Quantrill converted the penalty to reduce the lead to 10-6. After 15 minutes Tigers threw into the first line-out of the match, and in an attacking position, a clean catch released the backs but a handling error brought play to a halt. Solihull were now seeing more of the ball and their backs broke through the first line of Tigers defence a number of times. A neat switch by the Solihull backs put their centre through a gap and only a try saving tackle from Rob Pound prevented a certain score. Solihull kept up the pressure and were awarded a penalty wide out on the Tigers 10 metre-line. They kicked for position and from the lineout drove into Tigers midfield. From the resulting ruck their scrum-half Barry John Cole broke blind and with only full-back Walker to beat, he passed out of the tackle to the hooker Jeff Large who touched down near the posts. Full-back Quantrill converted the try to take Solihull into a 10-13 lead after only 20 minutes. Solihull had the better of the second quarter with both sides missing a penalty kick each and having more attacking opportunities than Tigers. But Tigers defence held firm and as half-time approached some of the Solihull forwards were beginning to struggle with the pace of the game. The half finished with Solihull leading 10-13.
The second-half started like the first with an early Tigers score. From a quick 'off-the-top 'line-out win in the Solihull half, Tigers fly-half Martin chipped over the Solihull backs for left winger Wayne Warren to chase. The Solihull full-back just got to the ball first but knocked it straight into Warrens hands who sprinted clear to score under the posts. This took Tigers over the 1000 point mark for the season and it was fitting that it should be Warren who reached this milestone as he is the team's leading try scorer for the season. The conversion was a formality for Martin which took Tigers back into 17-13 lead. The game went quiet for a while as both sides were making unforced errors although Tigers were beginning to take control of the set pieces. After 9 minutes Doug Trivella came on for Matt Wood and immediately made his presence felt with a number of heavy tackles and direct running with the ball. Most of the play now was in the Solihull half and from a ruck in mid-field, John Storey missed a long range drop goal attempt. But minutes later, Solihull infringed after another Tigers catch and drive from a lineout and Martin converted the penalty to stretch Tigers lead to 20-13. With Solihull under increasing pressure from Tigers attacks, their mid-field backs were caught off-side in front of the posts giving Martin an easy penalty to extend the lead to 23-13. Tigers brought on 2 replacements, Rudolf Froneman (for Rob Pound) and the elder statesman of the squad David Holmes (for Neil Pearson). Tigers continued to attack and a quick passing movement down the backs gave Warren the chance to run at his opposite number. Warren chipped the winger but was obstructed when trying to round him to recover the ball. From the penalty, Tigers kicked to the corner for an attacking line-out. The line-out ball was secured and the driving maul was stopped illegally by the Solihull No.8 Dan Gallagher pulling it down. The No.8 was sin-binned by the referee and Tigers took a short penalty and drove over the try line but the referee ruled that the ball was held up. From the resulting scrum, Tigers went for the push-over but then released the ball to Martin who made a half break and slipped the ball to Storey for a simple run in under the posts. Martin converted to further increase Tigers lead to 30-13. Tigers brought on 2 more replacements, Tim Fearn (for Alan Wall) and Anthony Parkin (for John Ashley) and shortly after brought on Richard Butler (for Eugene Martin). All 6 replacements played their part in ensuring that there was no way back for Solihull. The final play of the game was a well organised Tigers defence repelling five phases of attack on their own try-line before winning turn over ball which Warren kicked into the stand to bring the match to an end.
Second-row Ed Knaggs was voted Tigers man-of-the-match by the playing squad and was presented with his trophy by Captain Rob Pound at the after match reception.
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RFU Yorkshire League 2 Champions 2004-05
P 21, W 20, D 1, L 0, F 712, A 194, Pts 43
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30/04/05 - Tigers 1st XV Mission Accomplished To Finish Yorkshire League 2 Undefeated
Ripon 13 - Sheffield Tigers 19
Unavailabilities due to the end of season tour to Gloucester and injury saw an unusual combination take the field with the responsibility of completing the League programme without defeat. Whilst the pack had a familiar look about it the back line had hooker Harry Toews at scrum half, flanker Mike Schmid in the centre and wing Ian Meyer making his 1st XV debut. Tigers took an early lead when Eugene Martin struck an early penalty and he stretched it with a second penalty on the 15 minute mark. However, midway through the half Ripon struck back with a blind side break from a scrum by scrum-half Chris Marston for a try converted by stand off Robbie Brewer. Brewer then struck two penalties in quick succession and the Ripon support thought it could be their day. Although the makeshift Tigers backline was struggling to find fluidity, the pack could raise its game. Just before half time they pinched a Ripon lineout ball on the Ripon 22 metre line and rolled the maul all the way to the line for hooker Tom Ryder to score. Martin converted to make the half time score 13-13.
Tigers started the second half positively when they put pressure on Ripon. A good run by wing Alex Fraser five minutes into the half set up a lineout position close to the Ripon line. A couple of mauls saw Tigers almost over, but when the try didn’t come Martin dropped a neat goal. On the hour mark he struck another penalty, and although Tigers were ahead the game was not yet won. Neither side created real scoring chances for the remainder of the game, but Tigers had to work hard in the last five minutes when they lost prop Tim Fearn with a serious shoulder injury. With no replacements available Toews moved into prop and full back George Leach moved to scrum half. Ripon made one final onslaught but the defence held solid to ensure Tigers continued their unbeaten run.
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Yorkshire RFU Shield Final 2004-05
Sheffield Tigers 26 - West Park Bramhope 19
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Tigers Squad:
Back Row: Richard Senior, Rory McCall, Alex Fraser, Harry Toews, Mike Schmid, Chris Peel, Tim Fearn, Nick Barker, James Norris, Richard Butler, Neil Shaw, Shanks, Rob Chadwick, Andy Williamson, Richard Selkirk
Middle Row: Rudolf Froneman, Rob Pound (Captain), Wayne Warren, John Ashley, Doug Trivella
Front Row: Brian Loftus, Ian Cutts, Tom Ryder, John Storey |
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15/05/05 - Tigers 1st XV Complete Treble Trophy Season by Winning the Yorkshire Shield Final
Sheffield Tigers 26 - West Park Bramhope 19
Following their Powergen Vase win at Twickenham and clear win in the Yorkshire 2 League, Tigers completed the treble with a solid win over West Park Bramhope. West Park came into the game on the back of an 80 point win in the semi-final against Heath and must have fancied their chances when they scored within the first minute. The Tigers kick off didn’t go 10 metres but West Park gained possession and moved the ball across the field to left wing Carl Nutchey. He kicked ahead and won the race for the touchdown, and a good conversion by centre James Lowes gave West Park a 7-0 lead. They stretched the lead after 7 minutes when a peel round the front of the lineout created space. A kick ahead bounced loose close to the Tigers line and flanker Richard Storey was credited with the try. Tigers were seeing little of the ball and it was a relief for the Tigers support when full back Rob Pound kicked a penalty after 10 minutes. Tigers continued to struggle to find their form. When the West Park full back, Jason Whitehead, broke through three tackles after 24 minutes to score under the posts, and give Lowes an easy conversion and a 19-3 lead, West Park must have felt they had one hand on the trophy. However this Tigers squad has been behind on a number of occasions this season and they have had the confidence in their abilities and fitness to strike back. It was therefore no surprise when they scored their first try during the first half injury time. A bit of pressure on the West Park line tied in the defence before the ball was worked wide and No. 8 Mike Schmid gave wing Brian Loftus enough space to get in at the corner. The conversion was missed leaving the half time score 19-8 in West Park’s favour.
The first quarter of an hour of the second half was somewhat scrappy with unforced errors and a lot of injury stoppages. However, Tigers began to get a bit of continuity and were playing the game in the West Park half. After 17 minutes Tigers were awarded a penalty 5 metres out in front of the posts. Rather than take the easy 3 points they decided to run the ball. The gamble paid off when centre Doug Trivella made it over the line with the help of a few of the forwards. Stand off Richard Butler converted. The Tigers come back continued when midway through the half the pack turned over a ball on the West Park 22 and mauled it towards the middle of the pitch before moving it blind. Pound committed the defence before a neat reverse pass found Trivella for his second try and gave Tigers a one point lead. Fitness was now telling and Tigers were largely controlling the match. Butler stretched the lead with two penalties after 32 minutes and 2 minutes into injury time. There were still 5 more minutes of injury time and West Park tried hard for the equalising score, but to no avail as the solid Tigers defence held firm.
This victory completed a remarkable season for Tigers with the 1st XV unbeaten and winning three trophies, and the 2nd XV winning the South Yorkshire Trophy. It is a credit to the squad and the back up that they could raise their game just one more time at the end of a long hard season.
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Sheffield Tigers RUFC, Dore Moor, Hathersage Road, Sheffield S17 3AB [email protected]
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