Doncaster Knights 15 Rotherham Titans 9
Knights show their mettle in hard fought derby
The Knights were forced into a late change when Wes Davies failed a late fitness test and new signing Ben Gollings was handed his first start for the club playing on the right wing. A good crowd of 2500 had built up well before kick off and the atmosphere around Castle Park, whilst festive with a brass band playing was also tense with the expectation of a battle to come between two fine South Yorkshire sides. Fears for the pitch overnight were put aside as the forecast frost was avoided and the playing surface was near ideal on a raw still afternoon.
The Knights took the early initiative, backs and forwards combined with pace and power, and John Cannon was immediately at the heart of the penetrative action driving up the middle. The visitors were offside, referee Robertson played advantage, but when none was forthcoming – instead of taking the three points, Mark Woodrow drilled a kick to the corner. Line out ball secured, and the maul repelled, Woodrow ran at the defense and slipped a lovely pass to Gollings cutting in off his wing to shred the defense and score with his first touch on his home debut. Woodrow’s extras were a formality and a lead taken that was never to be surrendered. The home crowd were on their feet and buoyed by the strong start. The noise was deafening. Further incursions into the Titans’ defense were held out and it was 13 minutes before the Titans made it across the half way line. The home line out then failed twice in quick succession and the Titans began to exert pressure of their own. When Simon Bunting was penalized at a scrum, the easy points were discarded and the Titans went for seven. The line out catch and drive produced a prolonged maul close to the home line which eventually failed under huge Knights’ defensive pressure and there was great relief when Woodrow hit a long clearance kick all the way downfield into the Titans’ ’22. But a turned over scrum gave possession back to the visitors and off they set once again. It was settling into that kind of match, where both sides would have dominant spells but both defenses up to the task. It was compelling stuff that gave both sets of fans encouragement. It was a terrific derby between two committed sides. Both continued to have chances. Woodrow erred when his penalty into the left corner went dead and the scrum came back to half way: Titans drove a maul to the line which was held up, and Knights then managed to earn a reset scrum after turning the Titans feed. Titans took a quick penalty that came to nought when three points were again on offer, and when Gareth Steenson did kick at goal just before the break, his effort fell short.
The half time assault course for the kids didn’t look any less combative, and when play restarted it was again the Knights out of their blocks first. Hendrie Fourie was penalized for holding on at the tackle and Woodrow took the three points on offer. But, as before, Titans pressed in return and had the better of the middle part of the half in which Steenson had three penalty attempts and one by one he clawed the Titans back to within a point with 15 minutes playing time remaining. The Knights weren’t always on defense – Ben Jones made a 50 metre dash up the blindside wing: Forster and Van Vuuren combined to lead a fine attack on the left; and a promising move was brought back when the referee detected obstruction. But the nail biting got more intense as first Ollie Cook was penalized for joining a maul from the side: then Gollings, covering back, took too long to clear and was caught holding on in possession; and when Anthony Carter was penalized for not rolling away after a magnificent tackle, Steenson had given Titans every chance to win the game in a ferocious finish. Those last 15 minutes increasingly saw Titans having to take chances in open play rather than construct moves and the” Griffiths’ defense” whilst tested to the full, confidently held the attacks out. And with a final flourish, the game was put to bed in a grandstand Knights’ finish as they forced their way upfield. They won turnover ball from another of the day’s huge tackles, Ngalu Tau picked up and drove into the Titans’ ’22. The pack swarmed in a series of close range pick and drives before (who else?) Forster was on the end of one last surge to the line to crash over from 3 metres in the left corner. Woodrow’s conversion attempt from the touchline hit the post, to leave the winning margin at six points, giving the Titans at least the losing bonus point they surely deserved. But it was South Yorkshire bragging rights retained by the Knights and second place in the table as well, five points ahead of Titans who remained fourth with the Pirates defeat to Plymouth.
Griffiths and Forster set off for a South Wales Xmas in great heart after interviews with such august reporters as those from the Sunday Times and Telegraph, as well as a host of regional and local press who rightly saw this as an unmissable contest, and one which fully lived up to its billing. Next week the Titans host leaders Leeds Tykes in what for them is now a must win encounter, while the Knights travel to face bottom club Waterloo. The right combination of results would see the Knights top of the table at New Year. Now wouldn’t that be something!
Doncaster: Carter, Gollings, Davey, Cannon, Vann Vuuren, Woodrow, Jones (Scully 71), Bunting, Boden (Phillips 55), Rawson (Tau 62), Kenworthy (D Cook 62), Gross, O Cook (Grainger 55), Forster, Earnshaw.
Rotherham: Whitehead (Tuohy 71), Smith, Burke (Hennessy 56), Stewart, Claasons, Steenson, Bedford (Blackwood 74), Carey (Walsh 21-48), Hanna (Conroy 71), Hopcroft, Lund, McGowan (McComb 70), Fourie, Jacobsz (Cochrane 65), Bornman
Referee: Bruce Robertson (RFU) |
