Doncaster 35 Rotherham 34
Ed Norris replaced the injured Dan Cook in an otherwise unchanged line up before a 2000 crowd at Castle Park for this much anticipated derby. It was not a match for the faint hearted!
Almost from the kick off, Roth’s Mike Whitehead made an ominous break deep into home territory, the Doncaster midfield was offside at the breakdown and Whitehead had kicked Rotherham into the lead before a minute had passed. Doncaster’s response was quick – a sweeping move up the left involving most of the backs required desperate Roth defence, but Llyr Lane saw his opportunity close in to squeeze over for a home try. Rob Liley made light of the blustery conditions to add the extras and Doncaster were on their way. As happened often in the match, the next action was at the other end. Roth again found Doncaster offside and opted to kick to the corner, but Whitehead misjudged the conditions and put the ball into touch in goal to let Doncaster off the hook. Another Roth error, this time a poor midfield pass, saw the alert Mike Wood cleverly intercept and with a deft pass send Russell Earnshaw charging up field to be hauled down inches short of the line. From the ensuing scrum, Wood almost made the line but good recycling saw Doncaster driving close several times before Dan Montagu finally found the defence’s weak spot to score. Again Liley converted. With the first quarter over Doncaster had a deserved 14-3 lead and the crowd was roaring approval.
Another opportunity was created but John Boden, with Donovan Van Vuuren clear outside him, opted to kick ahead, the ball ran dead and Roth had the scrum back. They maximised their good fortune by setting up in the Doncaster ’22 and putting endless pressure on the home side. Morne Jonker’s clever chip through saw Boden caught Carruthers in front of his posts and the penalty awarded for non release. Roth elected to scrum instead of taking the easy three points: another penalty, another scrum: a third penalty and yet another scrum. Memories of the earlier game at Clifton Lane came flooding back as the penalty try looked increasingly likely, but on the fourth occasion Roth used the scrum ball, Haa’Ufia broke off the back to feed Carruthers who scored in the right corner. Whitehead converted across the wind and Roth belief was evident for all to see. Back they came once again and only a wonderful one on one tackle by full back Boden on Fourie kept them out, but almost immediately Doncaster hands in a ruck gave Whitehead the chance of three points which this time he took to close the gap to a point. The mettle of this Doncaster side was to be seen in the manner of their response in the five minutes remaining before half time! Pressure forced a midfield error by Hala’Ufia, the alert Doncaster back row snaffled the ball, Earnshaw’s huge pass to the right found Wood coming at high speed and only a great tackle stopped him scoring, but Oliver Cook was supporting to pick up and dive over in the right corner. Again Liley showed what a wonderful kicker he is as he converted from wide out. Roth did break out with a huge overlap on their right but Hala’Ufia knocked on to the relief of the home support and Liley boomed a huge clearance downfield to touch. The line out was turned over, Earnshaw drove forward, a series of close drives inched the ball nearer the goal line and finally Van Vuuren popped up to get through the narrowest of gaps under the posts for the fourth try, which Liley converted for a 28-13 half time lead and unbridled joy amongst the home supporters who had previously heard of four try bonus points but couldn’t really believe one had just been secured!
The second period saw Roth come out on fire, with their pack rampant in the loose and immediately in the home red zone. Four minutes of incessant pressure ended with Fourie being driven over for the inevitable try, which Whitehead converted, and Rotherham were clearly back in business! At this point Charlie Harrison came on for Lane, and Rob Liley retired with a cut head that needed stitching (Jon Benson deputising); and within a minute Harrison was in the sin bin! A quick Roth penalty was stopped by Harrison and the yellow card immediately shown. In a moment of comedy, Simon Bunting walked to the sin bin hoping for a rest and that the referee wouldn’t notice the difference, but he did and Harrison had to go. It said much for the disrupted team, a scrum half short and captain missing, that they withstood the next ten minutes of unrelenting pressure without conceding a point. Whitehead should have had three but his penalty hit the post, an error that would prove crucial in the end. It was the 23rd minute of the half before Doncaster visited the Roth ’22 and the controversial moment of the day arrived! Whitehead kicked a huge one out of hand on his own ’22 into the Doncaster half but the referee decided that Carruthers was ahead of the kicker, and although in no way interfering, was penalised for offside. Benson kicked to touch, the line out catch and drive was excellently executed and Simon Grainger was driven over for the try. Benson added the extras and the lead was 35-20. Urged on by an incandescent management on their touch line, Roth were back on the attack. A line out on the right produced a huge overlap on the left and Scott Donald was free to stroll in for the softest of tries with 12 minutes to play. Whitehead converted and the gap was now only eight points. Back came Doncaster, though, and after the backs worked a lovely move up the left, Harrison was on hand to snipe off a ruck but lost the ball as he looked certain to score. The dying minutes saw Roth assaulting the home line once again but heroic defence kept them at bay until, with the last move of the game, full back Claessens found room on the right to squeeze in for a try that Whitehead converted once again but only to hear the final whistle signal the transfer of local bragging rights up the M18 and send bar sales sky high long into the evening. Best game at Castle Park in ages? Probably so. Thoughts that no relegation would mean low key games at the season end? No way! Next up are Newbury, away, next Sunday and the chance to climb another place up the table.
Doncaster: J Boden, O Cook, Wood, Cannon, Van Vuuren, Liley (Benson 44), Lane (Harrison 44), Bunting, S Boden, Tau (Barretto 59), Norris (Rule 55), Kenworthy, Earnshaw, Grainger, Montagu.
Rotherham: Claasens, Carruthers, L Strauss (Allen 58), W Strauss, Holtby, Whitehead, Jonker (Bedford 40), Carey, Conroy, Hopcroft, Bornman, McGowan, Fourie (McComb 59), Cochrane (Hala’Ufia 25), Donald.
Referee: T Wigglesworth (RFU) |
