Positive Momentum to be Taken From Win at Richmond Athletic Ground

It was an encouraging display from the Knights down at the Richmond Athletic Ground this Saturday as they pulled away from a level scoreboard to emerge with a 17-27 win.

A day for the forward pack to pat themselves on the back as the scrum and lineout were strategic for the majority of the encounter. The backs added a dose of flair in the phases with their handling. A culmination of it all being 3 tries to add to 2 penalties slotted.

The Doncaster men opened the afternoon’s scoring 6 minutes in as a short pop-pass from Alex Dolly at the breakdown released Jack Metcalf through a gap for an easy run-in. Dolly then dutifully added the conversion.

After a half of back-and-forth play, Richmond equalised in the 34th minute. Their driving maul was held up well by the defence of the Knights, so they brought in their backs into the play. Darren Atkins spotted the overlap and gave a long pass out to Will Kaye in free air on the wing for the score. Bill Johnston added the extras to set the halftime score at 7-7.

Immediately on the restart of the second half Richmond had their second. Metcalf went to boot the ball downfield for the Knights but he was charged down and Toby Saysell was able to gather to flop over for the score. Again, Johnston added the conversion.

A penalty try brought the Knights back level after a solid period of minutes camped on the Richmond line. As the driving maul grudged towards the line once more, the referee saw one too many repeated infringements – he ran underneath the posts to signal the score and sent Jimmy Litchfield to the bin for 10 minutes as well.

Johnston edged his side back in front just short of an hour played as the Knights were penalised for offside within range of the posts. Three minutes later, Dolly added one of his own to again close the gap.

Keeping the scoreboard ticking as the clock counted down, Dolly added another penalty with roughly 11 minutes left.

The Knights secured the win on 78 minutes however. With an advantage from repeated driving mauls on the Richmond line once again, Connor Edwards received a good pass and sharp stepped to fool a defender enough for the Welshman to force his way over for the try. With Dolly’s conversion, the final scoreline of 17-27 was secured.

Not only a much-desired and needed win on the road for the Knights, but an encouraging performance to take positive momentum from for the Donny squad as they prepare to host Nottingham at Castle Park next weekend.

Match Statistics

Richmond XV | 15 Darren Atkins; 14 Alex O’Meara, 13 Jake Caddy, 12 Paul Kiernan, 11 Will Kaye; 10 Bill Johnston, 9 Jack Stafford; 1 Conor Maguire, 2 Joe Vajner, 3 Jimmy Litchfield, 4 Sam Collingridge, 5 Jake Monson, 6 David Massey, 7 Toby Saysell, 8 Mark Bright.

Replacements | 16 Callum Torpey, 17 Luke Spring, 18 Ntinga Mpiko, 19 Ethan Benson, 20 Miles Wakeling, 21 James Lennon, 22 Alex Burrage, 23 Zuriel Makele.

Pens: Johnston

Tries: Kaye, Saysell

Cons: Johnston 2

Yellow card: Jimmy Litchfield

Knights XV | 15 Jack Metcalf; 14 George Simpson, 13 Robbie Smith, 12 Connor Edwards, 11 Maliq Holden; 10 Sam Olver, 9 Alex Dolly; 1 James Wayland, 2 Will Holling, 3 Jake Armstrong, 4 Ehize Ehizode, 5 Evan Mintern, 6 Martin Sigren, 7 Jared Cardew, 8 Sam Hudson.

Replacements | 16 George Edgson, 17 Kai Owen, 18 Karl Garside, 19 Thom Smith, 20 Sam Daly, 21 Joe Green, 22 Billy McBryde, 23 Joe Margetts.

Pens: Dolly 2

Tries: Metcalf, Penalty try, Edwards

Cons: Dolly 2

Referee: Joe James