Exeter Chiefs 36 Doncaster Knights 12
Below par Knights blown away
The Knights returned once again empty handed from the West Country having been well and truly beaten by a resurgent Exeter side who will have every chance of lifting the EDF Trophy bat Twickenham two weeks hence.
Their new Sandy Park stadium and an immaculate playing surface was shown to best effect on a beautiful day but a strong end to end wind dictated that this would be a game of two halves.
Exeter, with the wind at their backs, were ahead from the first minute as the Knights conceded their now customary early try. It began with a line out, moved through two rucks and then through several hands for full back Ben Breeze to score in the corner. Tony Yapp’s excellent conversion added the extras. The story of the first half was Exeter pressure, using the wind well and attacking the Knights defence on a frequent basis. When the Knights did break out, errors and penalties gave the ball back to their hosts and there were times when the travelling support questioned the apparent lack of spirit, fire or commitment. They were unable to mount a single sustained period of pressure, and the only real highlight of the half was when Jason Forster at last broke the home defence to send Donovan Van Vuuren away and his pass to Ben Gollings gave the full back the try as the second quarter was beginning. It was, however, offset quickly by the sin binning of Simon Bunting after two quick penalties were conceded by him, and Yapp succeeded from the ensuing penalty. The Chiefs had their bonus point in the bag before half time. From an attacking scrum, a blind side break put winger Jason Luff into the corner: Samoan lock Chris Slade was driven over from a power maul; and Breeze got his second when good handling from a drop out after Yapp had missed a goal shot sent him clear. A half of home dominance against disappointing visitors had created a 29-5 lead that was never threatened.
With the wind now behind them the Knights did have much of the territory after the break, but wasted chance after chance through poor passing, poor kicking and spilling of ball. Typical of the waste was when Ben Jones made a great early break only for the support pass to go astray. They were helped when flanker Tony Walker spent 10 minutes in the sin bin but couldn’t capitalize on it. When the replacements arrived midway through the half things did improve and greater spirit was in evidence, but again errors spoiled opportunities. Jones and Russ Earnshaw broke away only for Earnshaw’s return “scoring” pass to be thrown away. Wes Davies made big yards, Dan Storey continued in support, but his pass to Woodrow was forward and a try went begging. It was the 68th minute before Exeter were in the Knights’ half, and they scored first time! Yapp darted through a gap and Walker in support finished off clinically. Yapp even managed to convert from wide into the gale. With time running out, Ollie Cook made a cracking break but (again) an awful pass to the supporting Earnshaw went to feet instead of hand and another score went begging. Finally though, a try did come when quick handling sent Paul Bailey in for a try out wide. Woodrow, seeing the wind blow the ball off his tee, calmly picked it up a dropped a goal via the woodwork in a cameo moment totally untypical of an awful afternoon.
The Knights haven’t found their pre Xmas form, or spirit, for some time but will have to rediscover it next weekend for the short trip to Rotherham. Team selection for the Tuesday evening Yorkshire Cup quarter final at Castle Park (7.30pm) might give some clues as to how Clive Griffiths will approach a game that is of huge importance to their hosts as they continue to chase Leeds to the wire. The Knights stay third after the Pirates defeat at London Welsh.
Chiefs: Breeze, Luff (Hockedy 74), Murdoch, Fatialofa M (Staniforth 78), Kingdom, Yapp, Barrett, Parkes, Nelson, Liddington (Davis 74), Slade, Hanks, Walker, Willis (Miller 23), Baxter (Brown 74)
Knights: Gollings, Bailey, Hunt, Cannon, Van Vuuren (Davies 40), Woodrow, Jones (Storey 68), Bunting, Phillips (Boden 52), Rawsen (Tau 63), Griffiths, Kenworthy (Gross 52), Earnshaw, Forster (Cook 71), Talei (Grainger 21)
Referee: G Copsey (RFU) |
