Donny dig deep to defeat Bedford 41-32 at Castle Park!
5th April 2025
A close and exciting game at Castle Park, where tensions were high and yellow cards were frequent, resulted with Donny excelling to victory.
From the first whistle it was evident that every point would count in this battle, which meant Donny opted for three at their first chance for points. Alex Dolly slotted the first three after a Bedford high tackle resulted in a yellow card. 3-0
The visitors answered back moments later, moving the ball out wide quickly to open a gap in the corner. Will Maisey added the extra two. 3-7
Another yellow followed the try, this time for the hosts as Semesa Rokoduguni was sent off for a late tackle. Bedford fed off the momentum from the card and quickly scored another. The penalty allowed them to kick for a line out and drive the maul over the whitewash. 3-12
Donny worked brilliantly to regather some momentum, Adam Hopkinson snatched an overthrown Bedford line out and George Wacokecoke made a brilliant carry up the wing. After a few more phases, Ben Murphy stole the show by putting boot to ball, chasing the kick and offloading to Logovi’i Mulipola. The tight head ran a brilliant support line before driving over the line. 8-12.
Mulipola continued his brilliant work during the next play as Doncaster won a scrum penalty, putting the home team on the front foot again. Bennett put in a great kick to touch, bringing the Knights up to the line. Moments later, Arthur Green made a dominant drive to score the second Donny try. Dolly extended the lead with another two. 15-12.
Wacokecoke is given a yellow for a high tackle and Bedford took the three points to level the scores. 15-15.
Bedford regained possession and the wind assisted them a 50:22. Doncaster do well initially to drive Bedford away from the try line, but a string of penalty advantages meant Bedford were given multiple chances. The away side eventually drive over and add the conversion. 15-22.
On the 40th minute, Jordan Olowofela ensured the Knights went to the break with the final say. Bennett kicked the ball to Bedford, but it slipped through their full backs hands. Olowofela, who was chasing the kick, managed to chip the loose ball towards the line, before following it over and dotting it down. The wind interfered with Dolly’s conversion, sending it wide. Half time score 20-22.
From the start of the second 40 Doncaster came out with energy and were up in the 22 almost instantly. Olowofela was held up over the line, but the Knights received the ball from the goal line drop and continued to attack. Bedford’s winger Garside was shown a second yellow, which meant he was in the bin for the remainder of the game. We capitalised on the overlap with another try. Wacokecoke put in a lovely chip up the wing, which was chased and gathered by Bennett. Dolly added the extras. 27-22.
Telusa Veainu was next to be shown the yellow and a Bedford try in the corner levelled the score. 27-27. In quick succession, Bedford scored another with Fred Tuilagi driving over. 27-32
Tuilagi was then denied a second try as Rhys Tait put in a huge tackle, driving the number 8 into touch just 5m out from the line.
Doncaster then switched on to get down the other end of the pitch. Veainu made a speedy break up the wing before offloading to Ene. Ene was swamped by Bedford players so kicked the ball up to the line, relieving the pressure well. However, he was beaten to it by the finest of margins and Bedford dotted down the ball for a goal line drop.
The Knights had managed to work their way up to the 5m line again, but it was Bedford’s ball in the line out. Bennett then claimed his second try of the game with super speedy reaction time! Bedford overthrew their line out and our fly half caught the ball before crossing the line and carrying the ball under the posts. Dolly added the two to put us back in front. 34-32
Zach Kerr carried hard before shipping the ball to Veainu. Veainu drew in the defence before darting the ball across to Ene. Ene shook off a Bedford defender before taking off for the line, scoring his second try in just two games for the Knights. Dolly slotted another conversion 41-32.
Ene was chosen as our player of the match for fantastic impact off the bench.
In the final moments of the game, Bedford attempted a penalty kick to get a second losing bonus point, but the kick went wide, meaning the full time score was 41-32!
Doncaster face Cambridge away next week, but return to Castle Park in a fortnight for a rematch with Chinnor! Bring the noise again and secure your ticket now!
