Doncaster were defeated 19-46 in their last game of the 2018/19 season to Cornish Pirates.

An impressive start to the game was soon squashed by five first half Pirates tries. The Knights showed some spirit after the interval but couldn’t find a way through a strong Cornish side that extended their lead further late on.

The Knights began the game in fine fashion and earned two early penalties to get the side up the field. Eventually that resulted in a line out in the Pirates 22, from there Tom James passed to Kurt Morath, who glanced up to see Curtis Wilson in aches of space on the right wing. The fly-half spread the ball wide and Wilson easily dotted down with Morath then converting to earn Doncaster a 7-0 lead after five minutes.

However, soon after that early pressure disappeared though when the away side scored their first try of the afternoon. A grubber kick bounced perfectly for Robin Wedlake to dot down from close range. Will Cargill missed the conversion though in some blustery conditions at Castle Park.

On 12 minutes, Mat Clark left the field injured to a standing ovation on his final appearance for the Knights as he moves to Nottingham next season.

Then only five minutes later, another injury crippled the Knights as Rory Pitman had to be replaced by Sam Jones.

Moments after, Pirates drove over from a catch and drive and put the away side in the ascendancy.

The fifth placed Championship team continued to keep their foot on the throttle and had the Knights firmly pushed back into their own half and eventually extended their lead to 7-31 with three more tries before half-time.

After the interval another injury dampened the Doncaster momentum as Tom James made a superb break from a dummy pass but was unable to carry on after a heavy tackle.

On 46 minutes, club legend Richard List was replaced with another deserved standing ovation for the prop, who has made over 200 appearances for the Knights.

Just two minutes later the Knights fans were on their feet again after a world class try from Cameron Cowell. The Pirates knocked the ball on in the Doncaster 22, allowing Wilson a clear sight down the right, the winger burst away in blistering fashion into the opposition 22, before offloading to Cowell who sprinted away himself to score his second in the last three games. Morath converted to make it a 14-31 score line.

Doncaster continued to attack and got their reward again, this time through Ben Hunter after a driving maul. However, Morath’s conversion hit the post and Doncaster’s momentum was soon pushed back.

Pirates continued to attack though and ran away with the game later on with two more tries to end the game 19-46 to the visitors.

Team Lineups

Replacements

Match Statistics

Knights XV: 15. Cowell 14. Wilson(54’Hicks) 13. Roberts 12. Clark(12’Hayes) 11. Jarvis 10. Morath 9. James(45’Polataivao) 1. List(46’Hislop) 2. Hunter(59’Malcolm) 3. Quigley(59’Sproston) 4. Challinor 5. Civetta 6. Burrows 7. Hills 8. Pitman(19’Jones)

Replacements: 16. Malcolm 17. Hislop 18. Sproston 19. Hicks 20. Jones 21. Polataviao 22. Hayes

Tries: Wilson, Cowell, Hunter   Conversions: Morath 2

Cornish Pirates XV: 15. AJ Cant 14. Robin Wedlake13. Rory Parata 12. Callum Patterson11. Alex O’Meara10. Will Cargill9. Alex Day1. Jack Owlett2. Dan Frost3. Jack Andrew4. Dan Lee5. Brett Beukeboom ©6. Matt Bolwell7. John Stevens8. Tom Duncan

Replacements: 16. Tom Concu 17. Marlen Walker 18. Nodar Cheishvili 19. Jake Clemson 20. Alex Schwarz 21. Maliq Holden 22. Dan Koster

Tries: Wedlake, Andrew, Duncan, Frost 2, O’Meara, Holden

Conversions: Cargill 4 Penalties: Cargill 1