36Doncaster Knights
7London Scottish
Knights turn on the style late on for bonus point win.
25th September 2021
Doncaster Knights 36-7 London Scottish
The Knights kicked off their home campaign with a resounding victory over London Scottish at Castle Park; running out 36-7 winners following a strong second half display.
After last weekend’s disappointing, Steve Boden’s charges were determined to get back on track in front of home support and eventually came good as they turned on the style in the closing stages of a hard fought encounter.
The Knights certainly did not have things their own way and after an evenly fought first half went into the break with a slender 10-7 lead. The second forty was much more productive for the home side who scored 26 unanswered points to record a comfortable (in the end) bonus point victory.
The early exchanges were bright and good pressure allowed Sam Olver to open the scoring as he converted a scrum penalty after just two minutes’ but the Knights were on the back foot soon after.
Attacking opportunities were blighted by handling errors and the visitors contested the breakdown gamely winning penalties and possession.
On fifteen minutes some disorganization in the Donny ranks saw Sam Hanks break and then send a testing grubber forward. The midfielder then collected his effort before racing away to score a try that Laurence May converted.
At 7-3 up Scottish remained good value for their lead and could well have increased it had it not been for some desperate Knights defending.
As the clock ticked towards half time the Knights began to find their rhythm but continued to be blighted by handling errors and indiscipline.
In what was almost the final play of the half, the Knights did execute and crossed for their first score. It came after good work at a deep line out drew in several Scottish defenders and Billy McBryde launched a huge wide pass to Kyle Evans.
The winger set about the The Exiles line but was scythed down by a cynical challenge from Leo Fielding as he was about to score. Referee Joseph James awarded a penalty try and Fielding was shown a yellow card.
The change of ends brought a clear shift up the gears from the Knights who struck again through George Edgson not ten minutes after the resumption; the hooker profiting at the back of a well-constructed rolling maul.
A fine charge by Guido Volpi brought about the Knights third score as the number eight barged his way through a couple of would be tacklers after collecting a tidy pass from Alex Dolly. Volpi showed a clean pair of heels to the cover defence for a try converted by Olver.
From here it was all Donny and there was inevitability about Henry Paul’s 72nd minute score which secured the bonus point and several waves of attack.
Credit goes to the visitors who defended admirably in the closing stages but on the stroke of 80-minutes Jack Spittle finished a fine bit of handling to add some gloss to the score line.
Plenty of positives to take from the second half display as they Knights build into Bedford away on Friday evening.
Knights turn on the style late on for bonus point win.
25th September 2021
Doncaster Knights 36-7 London Scottish
The Knights kicked off their home campaign with a resounding victory over London Scottish at Castle Park; running out 36-7 winners following a strong second half display.
After last weekend’s disappointing, Steve Boden’s charges were determined to get back on track in front of home support and eventually came good as they turned on the style in the closing stages of a hard fought encounter.
The Knights certainly did not have things their own way and after an evenly fought first half went into the break with a slender 10-7 lead. The second forty was much more productive for the home side who scored 26 unanswered points to record a comfortable (in the end) bonus point victory.
The early exchanges were bright and good pressure allowed Sam Olver to open the scoring as he converted a scrum penalty after just two minutes’ but the Knights were on the back foot soon after.
Attacking opportunities were blighted by handling errors and the visitors contested the breakdown gamely winning penalties and possession.
On fifteen minutes some disorganization in the Donny ranks saw Sam Hanks break and then send a testing grubber forward. The midfielder then collected his effort before racing away to score a try that Laurence May converted.
At 7-3 up Scottish remained good value for their lead and could well have increased it had it not been for some desperate Knights defending.
As the clock ticked towards half time the Knights began to find their rhythm but continued to be blighted by handling errors and indiscipline.
In what was almost the final play of the half, the Knights did execute and crossed for their first score. It came after good work at a deep line out drew in several Scottish defenders and Billy McBryde launched a huge wide pass to Kyle Evans.
The winger set about the The Exiles line but was scythed down by a cynical challenge from Leo Fielding as he was about to score. Referee Joseph James awarded a penalty try and Fielding was shown a yellow card.
The change of ends brought a clear shift up the gears from the Knights who struck again through George Edgson not ten minutes after the resumption; the hooker profiting at the back of a well-constructed rolling maul.
A fine charge by Guido Volpi brought about the Knights third score as the number eight barged his way through a couple of would be tacklers after collecting a tidy pass from Alex Dolly. Volpi showed a clean pair of heels to the cover defence for a try converted by Olver.
From here it was all Donny and there was inevitability about Henry Paul’s 72nd minute score which secured the bonus point and several waves of attack.
Credit goes to the visitors who defended admirably in the closing stages but on the stroke of 80-minutes Jack Spittle finished a fine bit of handling to add some gloss to the score line.
Plenty of positives to take from the second half display as they Knights build into Bedford away on Friday evening.
Match Statistics
Starting XV | 15 Billy McBryde (Harry Davey 68’), 14 Kyle Evans, 13 Fraser Strachan, 12 Connor Edwards (Mark Best 54’),11 Jack Spittle, 10 Sam Olver, 9 Alex Dolly (Joe Green 74’), 1 Conrad Cade (Liam Vaughan 56’), 2 George Edgson (George Roberts 64’), 3 Gaz Denman (Henry Paul 56’), 4 Danny Drake (Jack Davies 54’), 5 Josh Peters, 6 John Kelly (Sam Hudson 64’), 7 Sam Graham ©, 8 Guido Volpi.
Replacements | 16 George Roberts, 17 Will Vaughan, 18 Henry Paul, 19 Jack Davies, 20 Sam Hudson, 21 Joe Green, 22 Mark Best, 23 Harry Davey.
Tries; Penalty 39’ Edgson 47’, Volpi 60’, Paul 72’, Spittle 80’
Conv; Olver 47’, 60’, 80’
Pens; Olver 3’
London Scottish | 15. Rory Hughes (Noah Ferdinand 50’), 14. Dave Halaifonua, 13. Hayden Hyde, 12. Sam Hanks, 11. Leo Fielding, 10. Laurence May (Harry Sheppard 52’), 9. Ed Hoadley (Rory Brand 56’), 1. Jake Ellwood (Curtis Reynolds 54’), 2. Nick Selway (Ben Atkins 70’), 3. Joe Rees (Alex Gibson 60’), 4. James Tyas, 5. George Hammond, 6. Matas Jureviciu, 7. Bring Tuilagi (Ehize Edevbalo-Ehizode 74’), 8. Thomas Baldwin.
Replacements | 16. Ben Atkins, 17. Curtis Reynolds, 18. Alex Gibson, 19. Ehize Edevbalo-Ehizode, 20. Will Trenholm, 21. Rory Brand, 22. Noah Ferdinand, 23. Harry Sheppard.
Tries; Hanks 16’
Conv; May 16’
Pens;
Referee Joseph James
Photo by Rod Wetton
