Yorkshire Carnegie 27 v Doncaster Knights 20

It was the proverbial game of two halves as the Knights surrendered a 10-6 half time lead lose out against the division’s early pace setters.

The Knights made the short trip west for this Friday evening fixture at Headingley for what was a top four battle. Both sides remain in the, very, early play-off places now the games has concluded but it is Carnegie who strengthen their position at the top of the tree as they produced a much improved second forty to triumph in front of their home fans.

In good rugby conditions the Knights made a flying start with most fans still making their way to their seats when Sam Edgerley, playing on the wing, pounced on dropped pass by Christian Georgiou. The former sevens star showed wick turn of pace and smart football skills to hack forward and chase down a bouncing ball to touch down with under two minutes played. From the touchline Michael Heaney was unable to convert.

The try was symptomatic of the early flow of the game as the Knights looked dangerous with almost every phase of possession they had. Taking full advantage of the wide Headingley pitch, the Donny backs were given space and made regular inroads through Edgerley, Clark and Jarvis. They could not turn the early dominance into further points however and eventually the hosts began to find their feet.

Carnegie summer signing Seb Stegmann picked up the home side’s Man of the Match and proved himself to be an early threat with ball in hand. Following a carry from the winger the Knights defensive line was penalized for jumping offside and standoff Harry Leonard gladly took the three on offer.

Almost immediately after he had opened his side’s account Leonard was given opportunity to double Carnegie’s total. Ollie Stedman fielded a deep kick that he handed on to Edgerley who returned impressively before finding Jarvis surrounded by space. However, before the full back could put his foot down, play was recalled for a forward pass; Stedman took exception to the call and was penalized. Kick good, 6-5.

The hosts seemed to enjoy the better of the second quarter but failed to generate any forceful attacks in scoring territory and the Knights ball carriers were still finding holes in the home defence. After Will Hurrell had broken the gain line and made his way into the home 22m Sam Edgerley produced an audacious miss pass aimed at Tyson Lewis. The winger collected and carried, doing well to avoid being knocked into touch. Carnegie threw bodies into the subsequent breakdown, treading tenuously along the line of illegality but no penalty came and a line out against Donny was forced.

The next score of the game came from a, seemingly, none-threatening phase and is testament to second row Jon Phelan’s tenacity….and height! The lock used all of his towering frame to charge down a clearance kick in the Carnegie 22m and collect from up high before being stopped just short of the try line. Possession was quickly recycled and put through hands, resulting in Edgerley collecting a sprinting over for his second score of the evening. From the touchline, Heaney pushed the extras wide but the Knights held their advantage to go into the interval with a, deserved, 6-10 lead.

The Knights made a triple substitution at the break with Glen Young, Dougie Flockhart and, new arrival from Welford Road, Ollie Bryant all entering the field but it was Carnegie who really showed change. With a revitalized purpose the home pack seemed to take the upper hand at the set piece and used it to full effect. A scrum penalty in midfield was put to the corner before a well-formed line out was illegally stopped by the Knights. Leonard went back to the corner and this time Leeds would not be stopped. They drove at the Knights try line at a rate of knots before flanker Josh Bainbridge touched down and Leonard made it a seven point score.

Sensing a momentum change the home side displayed a confidence not previously witnessed in the fixture and soon had strong field position after Paul Jarvis was subjected to an impressive kick and chase to give up a penalty on the floor. Leonard struck the penalty to the Knights 22m line and then his pack produced a monstrous driving line out that rumbled all the way to the try line with Donny seemingly powerless to stop it. Bainbridge was again the man to dot down and Leonard was on the money to extend the home advantage to ten points, 20-10.

The Knights needed a response and the coaching staff rang in the substitutions. Dougie Flockhart reduced the arrears to a converted score with a successful penalty attempt just after the hour mark leaving the game finely poised going into the final quarter.

Carnegie’s ascendancy seemed to be waning as Donny showed more of what they had produced in the opening half and went in search of further points, however they were dealt a blow from which they could not recover with just under ten minutes to go. A solid scrum just outside the Donny 22m set a platform for Ryan Burrows to take off, the number eight exhibited impressive power and pace to fend off two Donny tacklers and touch down just wide of the sticks. Leonard’s conversion meant the Knights trailed 27-13 and had been outscored by 21 to 3 in the second period.

Facing a point-less journey home the Knights blew caution to the wind and mounted an attack on the back of a midfield penalty. The pack established a drive to get within five metres of a score but it looked like the chance had been spurned when possession was dropped but Donny would not yield. A big scrum saw referee Andrew Smart award a penalty which was taken quickly, possession was moved wide to Ollie Bryant who carried to the line nicely before off-loading to Ollie Stedman who crashed over.

Needing the conversion for a bonus point, Flockhart showed a steely cool to slot what was far from a simple kick through the sticks. There was enough time for the restart to be taken but Carnegie were able to close the game out and record victory 27-20.

The Knights return to Castle Park next weekend to face Cornish Pirates and there is more rugby this weekend tomorrow as Doncaster Phoenix second welcome their counterparts from Driffield for 15:00 KO.

Match Statistics

Yorkshire Carnegie XV; 15) Jonah Holmes, 14) Seb Stegmann, 13) Andy Forsyth (Pete Lucock 70’), 12) James Fitzpatrick, 11) Christian Georgiou, 10) Harry Leonard, 9) Chris Pilgrim, 1) Charlie Beech (Charlie Capps 75’), 2) Phil Nilsen (Jack Walker 65’), 3) Rob O’Donnell (Ben Black 80’), 4) Dean Schofield (Jack Barnard 68’), 5) Chris Jones ©, 6) Mike Myerscough (Tom Ryder 23’), 7) Josh Bainbridge, 8) Ryan Burrows.

Replacements; 16) Jack Walker, 17) Charlie Capps, 18) Ben Black, 19) Tom Ryder, 20) Jack Barnard, 21) Joe Hodgson, 22) Pete Lucock.

Tries; Bainbridge 51’, 56’, Burrows 75’

Conv; Leonard 51’, 56’ 75’

Pens; Leonard 16’, 23’

Knights XV; 15) Paul Jarvis, 14) Sam Edgerley, 13) Mat Clark, 12) Will Hurrell, 11) Tyson Lewis (Dougie Flockhart 40’), 10) Michael Heaney (Ollie Bryant 40’), 9) Brad Field, 1) Richard List (Jack Bergmanas 59’), 2) Ted Stagg (Joe Sproston 70’), 3) Colin Quigley (WillGriff John 61’), 4) Matt Challinor (Glen Young 40’), 5) Jon Phelan, 6) Latu Makaafi (Alex Shaw 59’), 7) Michael Hills ©, 8) Ollie Stedman.

Replacements; 16) Jack Bergmanas, 17) Joe Sproston, 18) WillGriff John, 19) Glen Young, 20) Alex Shaw, 21) Dougie Flockhart, 22) Ollie Bryant.

Tries; Edgerley 2’, 32’, Stedman 79’

Conv; Flockhart 79’

Pens; Flockart 61’

Referee; Andrew Small

Attendance; 2,373