Fixtures
Nottingham and Doncaster Knights were once again the centre pieces of an event packed evening as Doncaster managed to finish both halves with only 14 men and most fans left unsure of the final score. The rugby on show while not vintage was full bodied, and the result did a good job of hiding a performance for the Knights which was full of positives. Avoiding the hopeful kicking game for large portions of the game the ideas behind the rugby were good, but the enforced 1 month lay off made players rusty in the execution.
Returning to action for Doncaster was Fly Half James Brooks, who with Captain Glen Kenworthy and winger Dougie Flockhart had recovered sufficiently to start the game at Meadow lane.
The opening points came quickly as a Penalty that began awarded to Doncaster was reversed after discussion to give Greig Tonks the opportunity to put Nottingham into the lead on 4 minutes. Tonks’ accuracy with the boot with that first kick did not desert him throughout the evening. Scrum after scrum was reset in the following minutes which led to Tonks having his second kick at the uprights to put Nottingham 6 points to the good Stevie McColl of Doncaster had less success with two long range efforts in the first half, the second being awarded for Nottingham failing on two concurrent occasions to form a straight line at the lineout
During this period Brooks seemed to settle into his roll pulling strings, and two delightful chip and chase balls led to penetration of the Nottingham line that sadly only ended at the call of the Referee’s whistle.
Despite this good spell of pressure Doncaster found themselves facing a 9-0 deficit as Greig Tonks landed a penalty from the halfway line dead centre.
Meanwhile Brooks, ever probing for weakness moved Doncaster around the field with positional kicking and Doncaster displayed adominance at the lineout in the latter stages of the half. With Injury time apparent Doncaster’s Brynn Griffiths was penalised for an infringement at the lineout, leaving the Knights to holdout in the half with only 14 men.
The second half began with Stevie McColl kicking a rocket of a 60 metre penalty which did much to repair his confidence, and with Griffiths returning to the fray Doncaster once more turned away from the kicking game and ran the ball hard at the home side. Armitage and Tonga’Uiha especially damaging the defensive line of Nottingham with straight and punishing lines. One of the moves of the evening featuring the pair supporting by the ever searching Tom Davies ended with an opportunity for the lively Brooks to make the score 9-6 with a penalty. Again the lack of match time showed with an error of judgement allowing Tonks, undoubtedly man of the match, to score a try down the left wing which he finished with surgical efficiency. By the hour mark Tonks had made the score 17-9, and moments later Eggleshaw romped over on the right wing to make the score 24-9 despite Doncaster looking still right in the game.
As the hour mark passed Brooks, who seemingly grew in confidence with every minute, added a try of his own somehow barging over with the support of the now installed Corsar. The score stayed at 24 – 14 for a mere 5 minutes as up popped that man Tonks once for Nottingham to extend their lead by 3 points with another well placed penalty.
As the game drew to a close, the frenetic pace slowed and the Knights were once more condemned to completing the half with 14 men as No8 Andy Boyde was yellow carded for what seemed to be a fair decision by the referee. As the game moved into injury time all seemed settled until the confusing end of the tale began to unfold.
The scoreboard ticked over to Nottingham 27 – 19 Doncaster as Hudson Tonga’Uiha raced over for a try unopposed, but then back to 14 as it was reported at the time that the Referee disallowed the try. The confusion seemed to exist as to all on the Press Bench the man in the middle had clearly signalled a Try had been given, and appeared to look quizzically at the unchanged score board.
At no stage did the scoreboard show Nottingham 27 – 21 Doncaster, yet the press were informed after the final whistle that the try had been allowed and the conversion had been successful. As the Referee had been seen to signal a Try, one can only assume a misinterpretation in the line of communication off the pitch. In a time of Referee criticism it seemed important to mention the official had been seen to signal correctly, and that he quickly made sure the correct score was notified.
Doncaster can take heart from the rugby on show, and with the match practice blowing off the cobwebs of the enforced break should look forward to improving on a good performance against London Welsh on Saturday. The 3pm Kick off at Castle Park being the first home game of 2010.
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