After a sensational opening day of the Summer Bash, including the sensational single point victory for Hull KR over the Bradford Bulls, Sunday had a lot to live up to.

The first game saw tenth placed Swinton Lions as the underdogs against a Sheffield Eagles in sixth spot and for whom a loss would see their hopes of a top four finish in 2017 all but extinguished. Both sides came into the game on the back of defeats in the last round, but a narrow win for the Eagles when the sides met at the end of March signalled that we might be in for a competitive game.

Would the Lions roar or the Eagles soar?

It was a clumsy opening from both sides with errors and spilled ball.

It took twenty-three minutes for the deadlock to be broken. Sheffield were forced to drop out under their own sticks and two plays in Grant Gore threw a delightful pass to Chris Atkin who stepped past the Eagles full back to dive over. Atkin added the conversion and the underdogs had a great start.

The Eagles were level on the half-hour when Matty Fozard burrowed over the line with a dart from dummy half to score from two metres out. Simon Brown kicked the goal to level the scores.

Three minutes later and Swinton were back in the lead when Atkin kicked a twenty metre penalty after interference at the play the ball. The low scoring belied the effort from the two teams, especially in defence. There was very little to choose between the sides over the first forty minutes.

The Eagles were awarded a penalty try on forty-eight when Will Hope had the ball kicked from his grasp by Joshua Barlow as he was in the act of grounding under the sticks. Brown added the extras for 12-8.

Menzie Yere made it 16-8 on fifty-four minutes when he picked up a ground pass from Scott Wheeldon after Swinton had knocked on while attempting an intercept. Yere picked the ball off his boot laces to run the arc to score from ten metres. Brown added the extras from the touchline for a ten point lead.

The game was won for the Eagles on fifty-eight when Garry Lo took a Yere pass to go over on the overlap after Jack Owens had drawn three defenders out of the defensive line. Brown failed with the boot on this occasion but at 22-8, and with Swinton scoreless in the second half, it was a mountain to climb.

Fozard got his second of the afternoon when he won the race to ground a Brown grubber. Directly under the sticks he gave the provider Brown a simple conversion for 28-8.

When Swinton were offside on their own line on sixty-nine minutes, Brown kicked the resultant penalty from in front of the sticks.

Six minutes from time Shaun Robinson got some consolation for the Lions when he took a Christopher Hankinson pass to push through two tacklers to score. Atkins added the touchline conversion for 30-14.

Amazing strength from Connor Farrell saw him cross the line and somehow get the ball on the ground. Atkins was unable to add the conversion, despite being almost in front of the sticks.

Ben Austin completed Swintons late flurry when he scored under the sticks with a dart from dummy half. Atkins converted for 30-24 but Sheffield ran the clock down to the final hooter for a six point victory.

After a stuttering first half Sheffield totally dominated the second and justified their position as bookies favourites. The win keeps them in touch with the top four, but it will still be a massive ask for them to trouble the likes of Toulouse, Halifax and London to get into the play-offs. Swinton had a great first half but ran out of steam in the second, and despite a late rally, they didn’t quite have enough to answer to the Eagles onslaught.

Lions: Murphy, Robinson (T), Hankinson, Lloyd, Butt, Gore, Atkin (T, 4G), Bracek, Waterworth, Austin (T), Farrell (T), Jones, Lever. Subs: Nicholson, Bate, Barlow, Barnes.

Eagles: Owens, Lo (T), Yere (T), Flynn, Blackmore, Brown (5G), Minichella, Wheeldon, Fozard (2T), Mexico, James, Scott, Hope (T). Subs: Straugher, Trout, Cox, Johnson.

Referee: Jack Smith.

Half-Time: 8-6.

Full-Time: 24-30.

Attendance:.