The West Hartlepool forwards took the game to Doncaster from the first whistle and were awarded an early penalty deep in the visitors half after just two minutes of play. The penalty kick from 25m hit the post and Doncaster was able to regroup from the 22 drop out. However sustained pressure from the home side saw them awarded a further penalty just 5m from the visitors try line, this time the kick bisected the posts to give West Hartlepool a three point lead after eight minutes. The Doncaster pack increased the intensity and won a penalty on the opposition 22, the resultant kick struck the cross bar and the score remain 3- 0 in favour of the home side. After twenty one minutes the visitors found themselves under considerable pressure at the base of a scrum some 30m out from their line, a loose pass was intercepted by Hartlepool’s inside centre and five points were added to the tally close to the left corner flag. The conversion was missed and the half concluded 8-0 to West Hartlepool.
The second half saw an improved and disciplined performance from the Doncaster pack, and a number of opportunities were presented to the visitors. After twenty minutes Doncaster’s pressure was awarded with a well worked try from a scrum, scored in the corner, by left wing Sam Palmer. Despite immense pressure during the last fifteen minutes of the match by Doncaster, the score remained unchanged at 8-5 for this hard fought contest at full time. |
