But crucially they had the slope advantage after the break and following a 20 minute siege of the Tigers’ line were finally able to breach the defences, driving mauls over the line for a 2nd Drew Harper touchdown and a late penalty try. There was mixed elation and relief as Caolan Ryan first slotted the conversion to nudge the Saxons ahead and then booted the ball into the next county once the clock had ticked dead. Sheffield Tigers were worthy opponents who scrapped all the way to defend their unbeaten home record, they become the first side this season to secure a league point against the Saxons.

The Saxons’ lineup showed only minor changes from the squad that had faced Darlington Mowden Park. Sam Baker started at fullback alongside Lucas Roy-Smith who took the no.9 jersey. Caolan Ryan, Pete White and Tom Brown all returned to bench duty.

Both sides struggled to develop their attacks in the early exchanges, littered as they were with turnovers in contact and penalties awarded predominantly against the attacking side. Sheffield reached the Saxons’ line in the opening play but were penalised for side entry, the Saxons front row were then penalised within kicking range but the kick flew wide.

Sheffield tried to run back the long Saxons’ 22 dropout but were turned over by fine defensive work by Nigel Mukarati and James Rodley. The Saxons worked the ball left where they won another penalty for side entry, they spurned the 3 point option and kicked to the corner. The throw was secured and the pack got a maul rolling up the hill for Drew Harper to score. 8min 0-5.

The restart preceded some aerial ping-pong from which the Saxons got the put in at a scrum in their midfield. The ball wasn’t secured though and the hosts used the turnover possession to launch a series of sweeping attacks down the right side. They advanced to the 5m line where their scrum half managed to step inside the close fringe defence for a converted try. 13min 7-5, game on.

Neither side could develop much by way of an attack for the next 10min, players from both sides knocking on or penalised at the tackle. Some needless Saxons’ penalties put them back under pressure, but Sheffield burnt the platform by putting the line kick into touch-in-goal. The hosts tried to run the dropout back down the right side but Ben Barkley managed to dislodge the ball from an opponent on the Saxons’ 22. It was secured by Will Hurrell who set off upfield on the counter, he fed Jamie Hearn to his left who chipped the ball over a defender and left him for dead as he won the footrace to the ball which he hacked into Sheffield’s in-goal. A full 70m run was finished off with him skillfully recovering and grounding the bouncing ball without a defender in the frame. 27min 7-10.

Sheffield soon clawed back level though with a long range penalty for offside at a ruck, 31min 10-10. Sensing that their time with the slope advantage was running out they started to throw everything into attack but the Saxons defence held out grimly. Just as it looked that the clock would run out without further incident the Saxons coughed it up and found themselves on the back foot again. Sheffield took a quick tap at a free kick and drew a penalty and yellow card for Drew Harper failing to roll away quick enough at the tackle. Despite the man advantage Sheffield opted for the 3 points and the half time whistle went with the Saxons trailing again and a man down for the next 9 minutes. HT 13-10.

Pete White replaced Lucas Roy-Smith at the interval, tearing into his first tackle to enable Stewart Pearl to secure a turnover and then banging the ball downhill to find touch in the Tigers’ half. The hosts’ couldn’t shift the maul so moved it left where a switch move drew a penalty for a clumsy high tackle that Sheffield kicked into the Saxons’ 22. This time they got their maul working against the temporarily depleted Saxons pack and their loosehead bagged a try that was successfully converted. 43min 20-10.

The story of the next 20 minutes was one of almost constant Saxons dominance, the ball only coming back into their half through the occasional relieving punt or dropout from Sheffield. The Saxons were back to a full complement after 49min but were simply unable to unpick a resolute home defence, their runners either dragged down just short or losing momentum through uncharacteristically poor handling. But the hosts were unable to lift the siege and the penalty count started to mount up, including 2 against their front row at the scrum, and eventually Mr Kirby’s patience was exhausted by their no.8 playing the ball off his feet at the tackle and he saw yellow on 62min. Caolan Ryan – only just on in place of Sione Tu’ipolotu – kicked for the corner where Robbie Hurrell secured the throw and the maul was driven forward with the added assistance of the Saxons’ centre threequarters. In possession at the bottom of the pile of bodies, inevitably, was Drew Harper. 63min 20-15 the conversion attempt having flown wide.

The restart flew straight out and Pete White broke from the base of the midfield scrum but the move again stalled due to a wayward pass. Back came the Saxons with both Ben Barkley and Ben Hughes held up just short and finally another wayward pass conceded possession. Dale Garner was penalised after a rumble between the forwards but Sheffield’s kicker failed to find touch and back came the Saxons down the left, the hosts’ scrum half lucky not to get a yellow card for another defensive tackle penalty. The Saxons’ kicked for the corner but their maul stalled and Sheffield were awarded a scrum from which they again kicked clear but couldn’t get beyond their 22. The Saxons got another catch and drive rumbling towards the Sheffield line, and with their pack splintered a defender came in the side to take the legs of the Saxons ball carrier, bringing the maul down illegally. Satisfied that a Saxons’ player ‘would probably have scored a try but for foul play by an opponent’, Mr Kirby ran under the sticks to award a penalty try. Over flew Ryan’s conversion and the Saxons had seized not only the lead but also the try bonus point. 75min 20-22.

Up went the tempo from both teams, Pete White securing the restart and launching a high clearance kick that Hearn did extremely well to get under and secure. The hosts coughed up another penalty at the tackle enabling the Saxons to bang it back to touch in the 22. A loose pass gave the hosts a sniff of a quick throw-in but the alert Garner snuffed out the attack before it had begun. Mark George won scrum ball against the head to enable Harper a short range drive from the base in pursuit of his hat-trick, but he was held up over the line and with the clock running down Ryan leathered the ball off the park from the subsequent Saxons’ scrum. Full time 20-22.

Coach Mike Umaga commented ‘I’d rather we didn’t have to dig so deep once again, but the boys are very relieved after that performance. We squandered a few chances making it much closer that it needed to be, we need to look at our ball retention and maybe our frame of mind after a long coach trip. But credit to Sheffield, they’d done their homework on us and will be very difficult for others to beat at home’.