Early errors from the Rhinos put themselves under pressure however they soon settled and started to make good yards through George McNulty-Shaw and Richie Hayes.

After a period of good field position on 14 minutes they shipped the ball out wide and found winger Lee Lomas who scored in the corner, Jon Butler missed the conversion and Cadishead led 4-0.

The lead was short lived however and 5 minutes later Culcheth went ahead with a close range try converted to put them 6-4 ahead.

Some scrappy play so both sides miss chances before the Eagles extended their lead on 36 minutes with another converted try.

Just before the break however Richie Hayes burst through the line and found hooker Kieran Hope in support who raced over to score under the posts. Matty Lee added the conversion and it was 12-10 to the Eagles as the ref blew the half time whistle.

The Rhinos started the second half in a more determined manner and some strong defence from Danny Royle and Jamie Cain started to rattle the home side.

Cadishead were still struggling to control the ball however but some strong defence and poor discipline from Culcheth finally gave the Rhinos some field position and man of the match Richie Hayes took full advantage when he crashed over for a try on the last tackle which Jon Butler converted to give the Rhinos a 16-12 lead.

The Rhinos were starting to get the upper hand and another try came soon after when half back Jimmy Crozier put in a neat kick early in the tackle count for Jamie Cain who won the race to touch the ball down. Kieran Hope converted and the Rhinos led 22-12.

Back to back penalties allowed Culcheth some welcome possession and after battering the Rhinos line they finally managed to crash over. They missed the conversion to leave the scores at 22-16 and set up a nervous final 5 minutes.

The momentum had changed and Cadishead were desperately defending their lead however the Eagles drew level as they scored a converted try under the posts taking advantage of some tired looking defence to clinch a draw.

Match Preview

Match details

Match date

Kickoff

Team Sponsors