Second Half Comeback Secures Bonus Point Win in London for Knights

A dogged second half performance was timed just right to secure a 24-33 bonus point win against London Scottish at the Richmond Athletic Ground this afternoon.

The first half was an unhappy one for the Knights as they fell behind 17-7 at the half before brings things back in the second 40 minutes.

They were, however, first on the day’s scoresheet. Adam Hopkinson – the DK Academy player on his first Championship league start for the Knights – took the throw from George Roberts at the lineout and a good first carry from John Kelly provided the platform.

Grunt work on the line from the pack put Kelly within range to dive over the defenders, and thus the whitewash, for the opening try which Alex Dolly cleanly converted.

Scottish levelled the playing field when their maul trotted towards and over the Knights line with hooker Austin Wallis at the base in charge of grounding the ball and Nathan Chamberlain’s boot adding the extras.

On 25 minutes, Chamberlain put his side ahead as the Knights were penalised for offside on the edge of their 22 and the Scottish man took the opportunity at goal.

With time ticking away on the first half, the hosts scored their second try. Billy McBryde looked to control a pass from Max Williamson on the Scottish 10m line but Lennox Anyanwu ripped the ball from the full-backs hands in his tackle and ran the try in from that point. Chamberlain’s conversion finished the half’s scoring.

Not even 10 minutes had passed in the second half before the Knights set their resolve on chasing down their hosts. Noah Ferdinand couldn’t take a pass on his 10m line and George Simpson spotted his chance. Scooping the ball from the turf, the Donny man sped away with chasers at his back the whole way to the try line. With Dolly’s conversion, the gap lessened to just 3 points.

As the hour mark struck, so too did the Knights. Repeated set-pieces just 5m out from the Scottish line wearied the hosts defensive set. Camped on the Scottish line, bone-crunching carries from the Knights paid off as replacement prop Karl Garside was heaved over by his fellow forwards for the try which Dolly cleanly converted.

It was just 5 minutes before the front-rower added a second to his name. Dominant carries from Kelly and Williamson made pivotal yards in the 22 following a lineout and it was Garside once more who picked the ball up to crash over underneath the posts, giving his scrum half an easy conversion.

A minute shy of 70 minutes plaid, Scottish were reduced to 14 men. Replacement back-rower Viliami Taulani was the man singled out to be sent to the sin bin for repeated infringements as the Knights attacked the Scottish line.

The Knights took the scrum with the resulting penalty from the yellow card. The scrummage held strong and Dolly fed the backs off the base. Sam Olver then looped a pass out to Maliq Holden on the wing for the run-in. Unfortunately, Dolly’s conversion attempt was just wide of the right upright.

The adulation didn’t last for long for Knights fans as Donny were also reduced in man power when Jack Metcalf, fresh on the field for all of 30 seconds, was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on when Charlie Incall looked to score off the restart.

As a result, Scottish were also awarded a penalty try which closed the gap as well as proving to be the last points of the day.

A bonus point win on the road is important points to put to their name on the table for the Knights who will look to build on the positives of this performance as they look to host back-to-back home games in the coming weeks against Jersey Reds and Cornish Pirates.

Match Statistics

Scottish XV | 15 Cameron Anderson; 14 Luke Mehson, 13 Will Simonds, 12 Lennox Anyanwu, 11 Noah Ferdinand; 10 Nathan Chamberlain, 9 Dan Nutton; 1 Jordan Els, 2 Austin Wallis, 3 Joe Rees, 4 Matt Wilkinson, 5 Matas Jurevicius, 6 Bailey Ransom, 7 Jack Ingall, 8 Will Trenholm.

Replacements | 16 Lawrence Mason, 17 William Prior, 18 Rhys Litterick, 19 Brian Tuilagi, 20 Viliami Taulani, 21 Luca Petrozzi, 22 Conor Slevin, 23 Charlie Incall.

Pens: Chamberlain

Tries: Wallis, Anyanwu

Cons: Chamberlain 2

Yellow card: Viliami Taulani

Starting XV | 15 Billy McBryde; 14 George Simpson, 13 Joe Margetts, 12 Connor Edwards, 11 Maliq Holden; 10 Sam Olver, 9 Alex Dolly; 1 Conor Davidson, 2 George Roberts, 3 Andrew Foster, 4 Max Williamson, 5 Adam Hopkinson, 6 Martin Sigren, 7 Rhys Tait, 8 John Kelly.

Replacements | 16 Will Holling, 17 Kai Owen, 18 Karl Garside, 19 Sam Daly, 20 Jared Cardew, 21 Will Yarnell, 22 Robbie Smith, 23 Jack Metcalf.

Tries: Kelly, Simpson, Garside 2, Holden

Cons: Dolly 4 

Yellow card: Jack Metcalf

Referee: Mike Hudson

Gallery

Noah Ferdinand of London Scottish RFC during the RFU Championship match between London Scottish Football Club and Doncaster Knights at Richmond Athletic Ground, Richmond, United Kingdom on 1 April 2023. Photo by Alan Stanford.

Alex Dolly of Doncaster Knights is presented with the Man of The Match award after the RFU Championship match between London Scottish Football Club and Doncaster Knights at Richmond Athletic Ground, Richmond, United Kingdom on 1 April 2023. Photo by Alan Stanford.

Match action during the RFU Championship match between London Scottish Football Club and Doncaster Knights at Richmond Athletic Ground, Richmond, United Kingdom on 1 April 2023. Photo by Alan Stanford.