Nottingham 34 Doncaster Knights 40
Howells’ Merry Men eat their Greens
Against what were easily their toughest opposition to date, the Knights came out on top in a nine try thriller at Meadow Lane and moved into second place in the Division.
They did so despite losing two men to the sin bin in the first half, playing a man short for a quarter of the match. Glen Wilson led by example in the early stages, as the Knights swept right and left in three minutes of sharp attacking play in which the returning Scott Gray was prominent and it was no surprise that after a series of drives close to the Greens’ line that captain Wilson stretched out to claim the opening score. Mark Woodrow, in excellent form all afternoon as he kicked everything on offer, added the extras and shortly after a penalty after Gray was late tackled to open an early 10 point lead. A second try went begging after lovely backs’ play when Wes Davies’ too early “scoring” pass to Justin Bishop was clearly forward. Already it was clear that the previous excellent away form was to continue – the only question was whether this time it would last the 80 minutes that Howells had been demanding in midweek. The momentum took a hit when Ngalu Tau was sin binned for a team offence – three consecutive penalties conceded under pressure in the red zone saw the Tongan walked after he joined a close in maul from the side. Nottingham went to the corner with that penalty and there was an inevitability about the manner in which they drove over the maul for Craig Hammond to claim the try. Efore Tau could return, though, the Knights scored again. The creative Knights’ backs were again cutting swathes through a desperate home defence before Bishop showed his class by taking the ball 20 metres out and stepping three defenders before scorching to the line for a fine try. However, as Tau returned, Bryn Griffiths departed, this time judged to have taken out a man in the line out for a second time. Again Nottingham kicked to the corner and again their powerful maul drove close. Steve Boden was adjudged to have come in from the side to disrupt and the referee went to the posts to award the penalty try, Tom Barlow converting to close the gap to 5 points. The greens again made the extra man count as this time the excellent Tim Molenaar made the line break, Niemalendran followed up only to be tackled short by Wes Davies but the offloading was spot on and Sam Raven was on hand to touch down. Barlow converted with ease to put the Greens a point ahead with half time looming but the Knights launched a series of attacks that should have produced a try but Woodrow knocked on a poor pass to him when he had Bishop clear outside him. However, Nottingham collapsed a scrum and Woodrow made amends with a penalty to restore the lead at 19-20 as the whistle went for a deserved break for both sides who had produced a thrilling half of rugby for the poor crowd of 961.
Wes Davies was replaced at the interval with an injury, Paul Bailey taking the right wing with Bishop now at full back. Almost immediately the Knights’ rush defence was adjudged offside and Barlow too the three points to regain a home lead but it lasted just three minutes before at the other end, Antoine Nocoud cleverly exploited the blind side after Wilson was stopped inches short to give Donavan Van Vuuren the simplest of chances to get into the left corner. Nothing was proving too difficult for Woodrow as he slotted the kick with consummate ease – there won’t be a better kicking day in his career. Next Gray broke clear from the restart, making 50 metres before sending Simon Grainger then Bailey away but the winger was stopped 5 metres short and the chance was gone. Replacements on both sides then disrupted the game for a while before Woodrow’s cross kick to Van Vuuren was agonizingly a metre too far and went into touch. But the Knights were enjoying playing with a full complement and just after the hour stretched their lead when Bailey squeezed into the right corner in another clever use of the blind side after Van Vuuren had been close on the other wing moments earlier. It really was edge of the seat thrilling rugby, in which Nottingham played their part, and with 10 minutes to go the lead was again stretched as Woodrow sensibly opted for the kick at goal as a tackle penalty went the Knights’ way. It was now 22-40 and Woodrow showed his maturity by kicking cleverly to close out the game, the bonus point secured. Nottingham, though, had a sniff of a bonus point of their own and deservedly secured it when the ever industrious Joe Duffy exploded through the Knights’ defence and weaved his way to the left corner, with the despairing Bailey unable to bring him down short of the line. It was a fourth try for the home side, but it also put them within sight of a losing bonus, which they spent the closing minutes seeking. They got it too, but in the most extraordinary of circumstances. It was the Knights who looked like scoring deep in stoppage time, only to suffer the sound (and not for the first time) of the referee’s whistle as they were called for obstruction a metre short of the Nottingham line. Incredulous, they stood as the Greens ran the quick penalty and there was no last line of defence as Tim Molenaar set off upfield with only Bishop in serious chase. The big centre made it, just, but that and Neil Stenhouse’s conversion now had them within seven points and a second bonus! It was the last action of a wonderful match – the two late tries put a gloss on the score from a home point of view but Lynn Howells was delighted with the five points and even more so with the way in which his side had competed for the full 80 minutes.
Next up are the bottom side Pertemps Bees, led by former Castle Park favourite Russ Earnshaw. Another win and the following week’s visit to Northampton will assume monumental proportions.
The Doncaster and Nottingham “A” teams meet at Castle Park on Monday night (7.30pm) – another game like this one and it will be quite a treat!
The post match views of Lynn Howells and Donavan Van Vuuren can be viewed by clicking the VIDEO PODCAST button on the website front page. Woody’s thoughts will follow later!
Nottingham: Nirmalendran, Kay, Dodge (Byatt 30), Molenaar, Savage, Barlow (Stenhouse 50), Pilgrim (Thompson 50), Hall, Duffy, Hopkins (Corbisiero 59), Raven (Morley 47), Rouse, Stannard (Wilkes 59), Hammond, Montagu.
Doncaster: Davies W (Bailey 40, Luke 80)), Bishop, Hunt, Davey, Van Vuuren, Woodrow, Nicoud (Jones 58), Bunting (Davies T 61), Boden, Tau (Rawson 45), Griffiths, Kenworthy, Gray, Grainger,Wilson
Referee; R Kitt (RFU) |
