The Knights claimed their first victory in a tense Championship Cup clash with Coventry this afternoon, winning 20-19.

An equal affair throughout was swayed in the favour of the Knights after tries from Will Owen and Ciaran Booth was cemented into a victory by two penalties from Charlie Foley.

It was the number 10 Foley who put the first points on the board with a penalty after nine minutes.

The first try of the match came from Will Owen, on his return after 10 months out with injury, as a result of a dominant period of pressure the ball was worked out to the right, where the centre dodged an Andy Bulumakau tackle and drived over to give Doncaster a 10-0 lead, after Foley converted.

Curtis Wilson had the best chance of the half to score another try as he sprinted 50m down the left before Bulumakau made it back and halted the attack, Foley was in support and received the offload, but could only make it 5m from the try line before being tackled.

Foley did however add to the score line with a penalty on 36 minutes.

The balance of the half began to sway from there though as the visitors started to mount their first serious period of pressure and prevailed with a try just before half time. Former Knight Junior Bulumakau dotted down with ease after a driving maul from Coventry inside the Doncaster 22.

Coventry started the second half as they ended the first and doubled their try count for the afternoon. Firstly a break from Junior Bulumakau was halted by Tyson Lewis, after the former Knights sprinted 50m. From the ruck Coventry passed the ball quickly and James Stokes found a gap to score.

Doncaster extended their lead with a first try of the season for Ciaran Booth. The substitute received a pass just outside the Coventry 22, handed off a tackle and outpaced the defence to dot down. Foley converted to give the Knights some breathing space.

The match was hung in the balance despite the Knights leading 20-12, with both sides evenly matched.

It was the newly promoted National One side that made it a nervy finish, when from a line out and maul James Stokes again found a gap to drive over. Will Maisey converted to decrease Doncaster’s lead to just one point going into the final encounters.

The Knights held on though and began the Championship Cup with a victory heading into Fridays visit to Nottingham.

Match Statistics

Knights Starting XV: 15. Jarvis 14. Wilson 13. Clark 12. Owen (67’ Hayes) 11. Lewis 10. Foley 9. Dawson (45’ James) 1. Williams (54’ Hislop) 2. Hunter 3. Quigley (54’ Sproston) 4. Challinor 5. Eames 6. Ryan 7. Hills 8. Pitman (61’ Booth)

Replacements: Replacements: 16. Malcolm 17. Hislop 18. Sproston 19. Booth 20. Hayes 21. James 22. Cowell

Tries: Owen, Booth Conversions: Foley 2 Penalties: Foley 2

Sin Bin: Booth

Coventry Starting XV: 15. Fenner (54’ Stokes) 14. J.Bulumakau (59′ Fenner) 13. A.Bulumakau 12. Stevens 11. Trimble 10. Maisey 9. Kessell  (59′ White) 1. Gibbons (46’ Titchard-jones) 2. Tolmie(46′ Dawidiuk) 3. Alo (46’ Boulton) 4. Woolford 5. Oram (66’ Adams) 6. Voss 7. Ram (55’ Nutley)  8. Peters

Replacements: 16. Dawidiuk 17. Titchard-jones 18. Boulton 19. Adams 20. Nutley 21. White 22. Stokes

Tries: J.Bulumakau, Stokes 2 Conversions: Maisey 2

Sin Bin: Boulton

Attendance: 867