Doncaster Rugby Club

Doncaster Knights 23 Cornish Pirates 29

Pirates storm Castle Park

A victory here would have seen the Knights head the National One table as Plymouth went down at Exeter, and a larger than usual media presence plus the SKY Rugby Club’s cameras came in expectation of the event. That it didn’t happen was a big downer for the 1500 crowd and a huge disappointment to Clive Griffiths who took the players immediately off the pitch at final whistle and said a few choice words to a silent dressing room. He also cancelled the players’ Monday off and there will be considerable examination of some players’ credentials in the week ahead. There were, frankly, too many firing blanks on a day when the Pirates cane North short of confidence away from home having lost previously at Leeds and Waterloo.

If the Pirates needed a boost they goy one straight from their kick off – a high hanging ball was knocked on, the scrum quickly won, and two tackles later scrum half Gavin Cattle just picked up the ball and strolled over under the posts. Alberto Di Bernardo slotted the conversion and with 46 seconds on the clock, the Knights had gifted the seven points that in the end cost them the game. Almost immediately from the restart the same could have happened at the other end – Dave Scully on his starting debut darted blind of the scrum but his pass was knocked on to lose the opportunity. It wasn’t long before one of the Knights’ biggest failings on the day became evident. The first spell of pressure brought two penalties and an attacking 5 metre line out, which was stolen by the excellent Pirates unit. It was the first of eight line out losses on the day and never again was the previously potent catch and drive seen anywhere near the visitor’s red zone. After eleven minutes there was a lengthy delay as Pirates’ winger Jonny Hylton suffered concussion and was carefully treated on the pitch. From the restarts, Knights pressed hard but the only reward was a Mark Woodrow penalty, which was almost immediately cancelled when Di Bernardo retorted at the other end as Knights were penalised for no binding at a scrum. Woodrow kept the scores close with two further kicks as Pirates began to concede too many penalties for the referee’s liking, and when Iva Motusaga came into a maul from the side in his own 22, he deservedly saw the yellow card brandished. With a man advantage, the Knights finally reclaimed a Pirates restart and a thrilling backs move up the left was stopped just short, but from the quickly recycled ball Jason Forster was in close support to crash through the desperate defence for his ninth try in five games. Woodrow’s conversion put the Knights ahead for the first time, but as the interval approached and Pirates attacked, another careless penalty conceded allowed Di Bernardo to narrow the gap to a half time score of 16-13 to the Knights.

The Knights started strongly after the break. Scully’s short pass should have put Ngalu Tau in but again the ball was dropped and the chance gone. Two more needless penalties conceded gave Di Bernardo two more penalties to put Pirates back in front. Two further line out losses in quick succession piled the pressure back on the Knights’ defence, but they held out and appeared to have a promising counter attack but John Boden sliced a kick up the touchline to chase directly into touch. From the line out, Pirates attacked right, then came back left and centre Duncan Roke had little opposition in scoring under the posts. Di Bernardo’s extras opened their lead to ten points, which he extended to thirteen when Tom Davies’ first action having replaced Tau on the hour was to crudely and obviously put in a late tackle in front of the referee who was over tolerant in leaving him on the field! With ten to go, there were opportunities in the Pirates ’22 but twice Paul Bailey failed to deliver the chances – once trying to go alone with support outside, and then spilling the ball in contact with support behind him. It summed up his day. There was a bonus point at least to be fought for, and after Woodrow’s half break, the hard working Glen Wilson was in support tom pick up on the run and burst through despairing Pirates tackles to reach the line. Woodrow’s fine conversion across the wind got the Knights within six, and although there was time for one last attack and one last penalty, there was no time for an ensuing line out and the attempt to run the short penalty forced upon them was snuffed out by a Pirates defence determined to protect their lead.

Pirates deserve credit for a strong performance – their back five in the scrum were immense, and the Italian fly half Di Bernardo gave a kicking master class that kept the Knights going backwards. According to Griffiths, Glen Wilson was his man of the match “by a country mile” which will have interested the watching Netani Talei, but in truth some of his colleagues will know they didn’t show up at all and there will need to be an immense improvement when Coventry come visiting the Castle next Saturday.

View pictures from the match at  http://www.ssg-photo.co.uk/photo/index.php?folder=/pirates/  (cut and paste URL)

Doncaster: J Boden (O Cook 59), Hunt (Van Vuuren 40), Davey, Bailey, W Davies, Woodrow, Scully (Jones 62), Bunting (List 62), S Boden (Phillips 55), Tau (T Davies 62), Kenworthy, Gross (D Cook 62), Earnshaw, Forster, Wilson.

Pirates: Winnan, McAtee, Roke (Barrett 65), Bell, Hylton (Moore 4), Di Bernardo, Cattle, Paver, Maasi, Heard, Senekal, Beardshaw, McKeen, Motusaga (Cracknell 60), Evans.

Referee: R. Kitt (RFU)