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Doncaster were left to rue a lackluster opening 15 minutes, despite dominating much of the second half, which saw the side defeated 30-26 by Ampthill this afternoon.

The Knights dotted down three times in the second half to add to Ben Hunter’s score just before the interval to earn two points and keep the side in ninth position in the Championship table.

The home side put the first points on the board and deservedly had the lead after just five minutes. A good passing move allowed Joe Brecks to dot down, with Louis Grimoldby missing the conversion.

Doncaster had the chance for an instant reply as Tyson Lewis made a good break over halfway, he offloaded to Lloyd Hayes, but the centre’s pass to Morgan Eames was behind him and led to the opposition breaking away down the other end of the pitch.

The score was doubled as Nigel Baker dived over in the corner from a good kick out wide. Again, the conversion was missed as the Knights found themselves 10-0 behind after 15 minutes.

Ampthill extended their advantage with a penalty inside the Doncaster 22, as Grimoldby scored his first kick of the afternoon.

The Knights rallied back and had chances to score, but were wasteful in their line outs inside the opposition 22; and were made to pay when the home side slotted away another penalty.

A long injury break was then called as Ollie Stedman was stretchered off five minutes before half time; Rory Pitman coming on to replace him.

Doncaster rallied and scored a vital try just before the interval. Hunter the scorer as he got on the end of the driving maul. Sam Olver converted superbly to sway the momentum in the visitors’ favour coming out for the second half.

After the break, the Knights came out flying and scored on the 43-minute mark. A good period of pressure allowed Olver time to pick out replacement Kyle Evans, who showed good hands to pass wide to Tyson Lewis. The winger made no mistake as he sprinted to the corner to dot down. Olver also converted well to make the score line 16-14.

Ampthill battled back and scored their third try much against the run of play. Jarryd Sage took advantage of a gap in the Doncaster defence and darted away to make it 23-14, after Grimoldby converted.

The balance then swayed back in favour of the home team and they took control of the game with a fourth try. This time from a pick and go from close range with Grimoldby again converting.

At 30-14 down, a triple substitution of Joe Sproston, Fotu Lokotui and Jack Roberts turned the tide back once again to the Knights, as the last 20 minutes was dominated by Clive Griffiths’ side.

Twice the ball was held up as Donny drove over the try line, but their efforts were finally rewarded when Roberts scored his first try of the season after a good passing move. Unfortunately, Olver missed the conversion.

Evans then scored his first try for the club after a good offload from Rory Pitman with Olver this time converting to make the score just four points difference with one-minute left on the clock.

However, the Knights ran out of time and were made to pay for a lackluster start, despite dominating much of the second half, but deservedly take two points back to Castle Park for their efforts.