The Knights were left with a losing bonus point after a frustrating evening in Nottingham, resuting in a 20-15 defeat.

It was tale of ill discipline as the Knights conceded five penalties, yet out scored the opposition by two tries to one.

The Knights began in fine fashion though with a try after eight minutes from a well worked lineout; a driving maul resulted in Josh Tyrell barging over for his first try of the season. Kurt Morath added the extras.

Nottingham started to get a foothold back in the match soon after the halfway mark of the first half. Shane O’leary scoring his first penalty of the evening on 20 minutes.

O’leary doubled his tally 10 minutes later to edge the score line closer, before he gave the home side the lead with two more penalties.

Morath scored a penalty of his own to slender Nottingham’s lead to 12-10 at the break.

The Knights started the second half in a similar display to their previous performances against Hartpury and Richmond. Winger Steve McColl scored Doncaster’s second try with a superb outstretched arm while riding a tackle, after Tyrell and Tom James combined well.

The Samoan International then made another break into the Nottingham 22, as the visitors piled on the pressure.

Nottingham, who entered the match on the back of two victories, soon showed the form that had earned them wins, as O’leary scored another penalty on 59 minutes with the balance of the match beginning to sway.

The decisive blow came in the final quarter of hour of the match, when Sean Scanlon ran at full speed onto a pass and dotted over for Nottingham’s first try of the match.

Doncaster rallied late on, but couldn’t find a way past an confident Nottingham side.

Match Statistics

Knights XV: 15. Cowell 14. McColl 13. Hayes (60 Creed) 12. Clark 11. Lewis 10. Morath (70 Foley) 9. James 1. Hislop (30 List) 2. Malcolm (55 Nelson) 3. Sproston 4. Challinor © 5. Civetta (67 Hicks) 6. Ryan 7. Calladine 8. Tyrell

Replacements: 16. Nelson 17. List 18. Williams 19. Hicks 20. Creed 21. Dawson 22. Foley

Tries: Tyrell, McColl Conversions: Morath  Penalty: Morath

Nottingham XV: 15. Scanlon 14. Williams 13. Millett 12. Peters 11. Robinson 10. O’leary 9. McConnell 1. Sio 2. Cole 3. Daniels 4. Cecil 5. Qualter 6. Buckley 7. Coghlan 8. Poullett

Replacements: 16. Farnworth 17. Heffernan 18. Burke 19. Cox 20. Owen 21. Veenendaal 22. Lyons

Tries: Scanlon Penalties: O’leary 5