London Scottish 01/02/2020

15Doncaster Knights

13London Scottish

2:30 pm · February 1, 2020
league

Sam Olver was the hero once again at Castle Park as he scored a last minute penalty to seal a 15-13 win over London Scottish this afternoon.

The Knights edged the first half took the lead 12-10, although the visitors dominated much of the second half. Yet the home side kept within touching distance and rallied late on with a Olver kick winning the game and pushing Clive Griffiths’ side to seventh in the Championship table.

However, it was another slow start for the Knights with a dropped kick eventually leading to Scottish’s Luke Frost barging over for the first try of the game in the third minute.

In typical Doncaster style though, the home side rallied back immediately and after a period of sustained pressure took the lead. From close range, Colin Quigley drove over with Sam Olver slotting away the conversion.

That try boosted their confidence and took control of the game for the next 15 minutes. First, Sam Pocklington made a superb break from his own half into the opposition 22 to gain some territory. A couple of phases later, a penalty was awarded for a dangerous tackle on Jack Roberts, Olver found touch well allowing Fotu Lokotui to drive over the try line from the catch and drive.

Scottish responded themselves after conceding on the 32 minute mark and after three line outs in the Doncaster 22, as well as a yellow card for try scorer Lokotui, the visitors scored through Lewis Wynne.

The half-time whistle arrived as the Exiles were beginning to up their tempo, with Donny firmly on the back foot.

After the interval, Doncaster started with an increased intensity, however the first points on the board were from Harry Sheppard’s boot with a penalty.

The rest of the second half was a slightly labored affair with neither side playing free flowing rugby. However, the home side were handed an advantage when Matas Jurevicius was shown a yellow card.

That prompted Doncaster to have their best spell of the second half with three line outs in a sustained period of pressure. Although, they failed to take advantage of that and Scottish replied with an attack of their own.

As the clock ticked past the 70 minute mark, it looked like the visitors would leave with the spoils. However, the Doncaster defence remained strong and were given a lifeline when we earned a penalty inside our own half. Half time replacement Steve McColl found touch with ease, and pushed the Knights into the Exiles’ 22. After the line out, a driving maul and a couple of phases later a penalty was awarded from just outside the Scottish 22.

Sam Olver, who was the hero in our last home fixture, stepped up once again in the last minute and sealed the victory to a rapturous applause.

Match Statistics

Knights XV: 15. Cameron Cowell 14. Kyle Evans 13. Jack Roberts 12. Charlie Foley 11. Curtis Wilson(40’McColl) 10. Sam Olver 9. Sam Pocklington 1. Robin Hislop(66’Thomas) 2. Ben Hunter(69’Holling) 3. Colin Quigley(41’Sproston(66’Sproston) 4. Rory Pitman(72’Eames) 5. Matt Smith 6. Fotu Lokotui 7. Wian Conradie 8. Tom Calladine (c)(72’Volpi)

Replacements: 16. Will Holling 17. Marc Thomas 18. Joe Sproston(52’Quigley) 19. Morgan Eames 20. Guido Volpi 21. Reiss Cullen 22. Steve McColl 23. Lloyd Hayes

Tries: Quigley, Lokotui

Conversions: Olver

Penalties: Olver

Yellow card: Lokotui

London Scottish XV :15. Luke Hibberd 14. Rob Stevenson 13. Bobby Beattie 12. Dan Barnes 11. Craig Duncan 10. Harry Sheppard 9. Josh Barton 1. Ryan Eveleigh 2. James Malcolm 3. Phil Cringle 4. Matas Jurevicius 5. Alex Toolis 6. Luke Frost 7. Lewis Wynne © 8. Mark Bright

Replacements: 16. Billy Harding, 17. Lewis Holsey, 18. Kyle Whyte, 19. Jack Ingall, 20. Miles Wakeling, 21. Rory Brand, 22. Will Magie, 23. Ollie Allsopp

Tries: Frost, Wynne

Conversions:

Penalties: Sheppard

Yellow Card: Jurevicius

Attendance: 1105

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