Doncaster Knights fell short 37-43, to Sale Sharks in a close Premiership Cup battle at Castle Park.
Despite the result going the way of the visitors, Doncaster Knights played some brilliant rugby and showed their true potential with some well-worked tries.
The Knights snatched the first points of the game as Russell Bennett slotted an early penalty for a 3 point lead.
However, It was the Sharks who scored the first try as they displayed a very strong driving maul, which allowed their Hooker, Tadgh McElroy to get over the line. Fly half, Tom Curtis added the extras. Shortly after, Bennett kept the points ticking for the Knights as he scored a second penalty.
Doncaster fought hard to win the ball back on multiple occasions, including great work at the breakdown from Morgan Strong and Thom Smith. Unfortunately, McElroy pounced on a loose ball and showed strength to get over the line again for the Sharks. Curtis added the extras and shortly after, another penalty.
The Knights were trailing 6-17 but they kept flighting. Josh Williams showed great determination when defending the driving maul to get his hands on the player at the back, causing Sale to drop the ball when they tried to ship it out. The Knights then won a scrum penalty following the knock on, which they used to exit the 22.
Doncaster carried the momentum into the next phase of play and George Wacokecoke gave his signature sneaky offload out the back to Jordan Olowofela, who showed his pace to get over the line. Bennett slotted the conversion comfortably from the touchline.
The try ignited a fire in Doncaster as they continued to look dangerous, Morgan Strong made serious ground with a brilliant carry out the back of a scrum.
Jordan Olowofela then gifted the assist back to George Wacokecoke as he made a break around the halfway mark before offloading to Wacokecoke, allowing the centre to go the rest of the way. Wacokecoke slid under the posts to put the Knights in front. Bennett added the extras.
More brilliant rugby from the Knights as Archie Smeaton positioned himself brilliantly at the breakdown, resulting in Sharks errors and a Doncaster penalty.
Thom Smith proved that forwards can do it all as he put in a brilliant nudge into space. His kick bounced into Olowofela’s arms and Donny worked their way up to the 5m line. After a few phases of carries, our brand new loan player Tom Currie drove his way over the line on debut. Bennett added another two points, leaving the half time score 27-17.
Wacokecoke and Olowofela kick off the second half in style as they worked together yet again, for another brilliant score. Wacokecoke saw the gap out wide and threw a long miss-pass out to Olowofela, who finished in the corner.
Sale Sharks then reverted back to what worked at the start as McElroy scored a hat-trick off the back of another driving maul. This seemed to give the visitors a bit of a boost as they claimed another shortly after. Obi Ene went over on the wing when the Knights left a gap out wide and Tom Curtis put in a cross-field to Ene. Curtis also scored the conversion.
Harry Davey then delivered great energy to the next play as he chased down the kick off and put in a tackle on the receiver. This allowed the Knights to turn the ball over at the breakdown.
They kept the momentum as Alex Dolly chipped the ball over for Telusa Veainu to collect and carry over the line. Gifting a well deserved try to Veainu who had spent the game showing his fantastic footwork and making countless carries.
The Knights then found themselves defending on the try line. A slip in discipline at the rolling maul gifted seven points to Sale Sharks in the form of a penalty try, with just two minutes left of the game.
After a scrappy play, Sharks secure their win with one final try as Jos Gilmore slides over. Curtis added the extras leaving the full time score 37-43.
