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In a match marred by driving wind and rain, and not helped by poor referring that benefited neither side, 5th placed Doncaster Knights deservedly beat 6th placed Bedford with a try by their Tongan international prop Toma Toke in the 74th minute. Until then both defences had been on top and, although the team with the wind advantage had territorial control, it was the defending side, in both halves, who retained possession for long periods of time. Throughout the game the side in possession was allowed by the referee to continually dive over the ball at every ruck thus making it almost impossible for the opposite side to legally gain possession.
For this match, Doncaster’s Director of Rugby Lynn Howells made several changes from the side that had lost to Cornish Pirates the previous weekend. In the backs, skipper and back’s coach Justin Bishop returned on the wing, Anthony Carter was recalled at full back and, in the pack, Tongan international Lisiate Fa’aoso came in at lock. Both sides came into the match have both heavily beaten Moseley in recent weeks.
Doncaster kicked off with the wind advantage and were soon camped in the Bedford half. Each time the visitors gained possession they used their pack to try to grind their way out rather than trying to kick into the wind and this tactic met with only limited success as the Knight’s pack started to turn the screw at both scrum and lineout. Unfortunately the referee continually penalised the home side for a variety of defences, most of which bemused both the players and the crowd, so that any attacking continuity was lost and player’s tempers started to fray. After 7 mins, Bedford managed to get inside the Knights half but their Canadian international full back James Pritchard failed with a kick head on to the posts from 27 metres when the strength of the wind could be gauged by the fact that his kick failed to even reach the posts. Although playing most of the half around the Bedford 22, the Knights never really looked like scoring for the first thirty minutes apart from one driving maul following a lineout which, predictably, ended with the referee’s whistle. Eventually however the referee realised that their were two sides in the game and he gave the Knights two kickable penalties in the last ten minutes both of which were goaled by excellent kicks by their fly half Mark Woodrow.
Turning around only 6 points ahead and facing the strong wind, the Knights looked in trouble but their powerful pack had other ideas as they gathered the ball and drove their way out of their own half. Unfortunately when they tried to move the ball they lost possession allowing their visitors to clear their lines and it was back to square one again. The Knights pack quickly realised that they had to keep the ball to themselves and the game developed into one that was enjoyed by the purists if not most spectators. After 53 minutes, Pritchard at long last got Bedford onto the scoreboard but that turned out to be their last chance as the Knights pack assumed total control even when down to 14 men after prop Tom Davies, just on as a replacement for Ngalu Ta’u, was yellow carded for punching in defence of one of his own players. Back at full strength after 67 minutes, Doncaster drove into the Bedford 22 and, when they were awarded a penalty they kicked to the corner. This penalty resulted in Bedford’s hooker and skipper Dan Richmond being yellow carded. From the lineout, the Knights won the ball cleanly and, after the first drive was held by Bedford, they were unable to stop the powerful Toma Toke from driving over for a try that his celebrations showed that he had clearly enjoyed scoring.
After the match Lynn Howells said that he was pleased with his side’s overall performance and for what he described as an “ugly win”. Both Doncaster’s scrimmaging and line outs went well with Knights hooker Steve Boden’s throwing in being exemplary in the strong wind. The general view after the game was that the two yellow cards had resulted from the players’ frustration with the poor referring!
Doncaster Knights: A Carter; J Bishop; B Hunt (P Bailey 63); S Davey; D Van Vuuren; M Woodrow; B Jones; N Tau (T Davies 53); S Boden; R List (T Toke 72); G Kenworthy; L Fa’aoso; B Griffiths; C Planchant; S Grainger Subs not used: B Phillips; C Rees; O Cook
Bedford Blues: J Pritchard; C Moir; L Roberts (M Allen 71); T Youngs; O Dodge; J Elrick (B Patson 65); K Dickson; A Lyon (G Sammons 78); D Richmond; J Graham; J Phillips; A Brenton (R Mackay 60); M Rotha; J Lumby (B Pienarr 46) ; S Harding Subs not used: B Fortuna; W Caudley
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