Whitehead and McIlwaine

by Grace Newton

Dougie Flockhart was the hat-trick hero for Doncaster Knights as they swept aside Esher Rugby 41-24 at Castle Park for their biggest win of the season so far.

Flockhart touched down three times in the six-try mauling of the Championship’s bottom side which all but secured the Knights’ place in the league’s promotion play-offs – and in a twist of fate his last trio of tries came when he was playing for Esher himself three years ago.

Having not had a competitive outing in three weeks, DOR Brett Davey expected his team to be ‘rusty’ and was faced with the prospect of starting without his in-form full-back David McIlwaine, who suffered a shoulder injury in training.

Yet Doncaster made a perfect start, putting the Surrey club under early pressure and driving the pack over for a try claimed by Andy Boyde in just the fourth minute of the match. Stand-in kicker Flockhart converted for a healthy 7-0 lead.

Esher’s back-row kicker Pete Synott hit a penalty soon after to narrow the deficit, but the strength of the home side’s forwards was underlined when an attacking scrum close to Esher’s try line led to the visitors being penalised several times until a penalty try was awarded. Flockhart slotted an easy conversion to extend the Knights’ lead to 14-3.

Despite having only won once this season, Esher showed flashes of attacking brilliance as their back line switched the ball across the pitch before chasing a chip for Canadian international Phil Mackenzie to ground the ball in the corner. Synott converted and the game was suddenly wide open at 14-10.

The Knights struggled to impose themselves on Esher’s runners and their failure to smother the southern side’s attacking threat led to another chip-and-chase try, this time for winger Geoff Griffiths after several missed tackles. Synott hit the conversion from a tricky angle for the visitors to take an unexpected 14-17 lead.

The Knights regrouped and hit back with some scintillating rugby of their own, and were rewarded when Flockhart went over for his first try after a swift exchange of passes. The full-back converted himself to regain the advantage at 21-17.

The Scotsman notched a simple penalty just before the break to record a half-time lead of 24-17 as the two teams prepared for an intense second period.

Esher took the game to Doncaster as the second half began, and Doncaster narrowly avoided conceding another try when a knock-on thwarted the visitors’ attack in the final phase. Seeing the threat, the home bench reinforced the pack with the introduction of experienced back-row campaigners Chris Planchant and Adam Kettle, who immediately stamped their authority on the game.

Fly-half Mike Whitehead – making his first start in three months following an injury – then spun an ambitious pass which was collected by Michael Noone on the wing and offloaded to Flockhart for a touch-down in the corner and a bonus point in the bag. This time the kick was missed but victory was in sight for Doncaster as they prepared to defend a 29-17 lead.
New signings Tom Francis and Gareth McDonogh were handed their debuts, and soon after lock Dom Parsons intercepted a stray Esher pass to set up Michael Keating for his ninth try of the season and an unassailable 34-17 lead with just five minutes remaining.

Esher’s Shawn Renwick barrelled over for a consolation try which was converted by Fijian World Cup legend Nicky Little in a cameo appearance.

Yet Flockhart went over in the corner again in injury time to secure his Man of the Match performance and a final scoreline of 41-24.

Doncaster Knights: 15 D Flockhart, 14 B Toft, 13 O Goss, 12 F Burdon, 11 M Keating, 10 M Whitehead (G McDonogh 66), 9 C Hallam (M Heaney 71), 1 Andy Brown (R Burke-Flynn 66), 2 S Boden (J Yeandle 58), 3 Alex Brown (T Francis 70), 4 M Challinor, 5 D Parsons, 6 A Boyde (C Planchant 58), 7 Z Farivarz (A Kettle 58), 8 M Noone

Tries: Flockhart (3), Boyde, Keating, penalty try

Cons: Flockhart (4)

Pens: Flockhart (1)

Man of the Match: Flockhart

Esher: 15 L Daniels, 14 A Wright, 13 P Mackenzie, 12 T Cheeseman, 11 G Griffiths (R Kirby 75), 10 M Atkinson (N Little 75), 9 J Mackenzie (C Stuart-Smith 71), 1 D Millard (I Elosu 16), 2 J Campbell (K Corrigan 71), 3 R Nebbett, 4 M Symons (S Renwick 71), 5 J Inglis, 6 S Stitcher, 7 P Synott (C Goodman 66), 8 M Macfarlane

Tries: P Mackenzie, Griffiths, Renwick

Cons: Synott (2), Little (1)

Pens: Synott (1)

Attendance: 1273