Yorkshire Carnegie 15-9 Doncaster Knights

The Knights winning start to the season came to an end in dramatic fashion as they lost out to their west Yorkshire rivals in what was a pain staking derby finish.

On what promised to be a fine September afternoon the heavens opened in unison with the referee’s whistle. The conditions took their toll on both sides and the game was slow to catch fire.

The Knights enjoyed the better of possession and territory in the opening twenty minutes however struggled to convert it into scoring opportunities.

The best chance of the early stages came for Tyson Lewis. The winger appeared to have scorched over in the corner after some silky handling from skipper Michael Hills. There was a brief consultation between referee Greg Macdonald and his assistant but it was judged that the covering defence had forced Tyson to touch in goal.

The first points of the game came shortly after as the DOnny attacked from a 22m drop out; the result of the Lewis effort. Having made headway into the Carnegie 22m the hosts were penalized and Simon Humberstone opened the scoring.

The fly half quickly doubled the Knights lead minutes later following good work from the pack to win a scrum penalty in centerfield.

With ten minutes to go till the break Doncaster should, by rights, have established a healthier lead and Carnegie quickly bit into the advantage in the latter stages.

Matt Challinor was shown a yellow card for a late challenge on home fly half Callum Irvine and, against fourteen men, Carnegie gained the upper hand. Irvine was unable to convert the resulting penalty but got another chance on 38 minutes with Donny holding on for the half time whistle.

Back to a full compliment, the Knights extended their lead moments after the restart as Humberstone kicked his third penalty of the afternoon. A good driving lineout was illegally dropped by the home pack and the stand off made no mistake.

No further points were added to the Knights tally as Carnegie coped better with the inclement weather to record the only two tries of the game.

The first came through former Knight Ollie Stedman and it could have been earlier had it not been for a committed, last gasp defensive series. On two occasions booming hits with the try line in sight forced knock ons but the home attack was unrelenting.

From a driving lineout the Carnegie pack did what they had been threatening to do for a while and rumbled over the line with Stedman appearing from the pile of bodies in possession.

Replacement scrum half Will Homer was unable to add the extras making the score 8-9.

The next Carnegie try was pretty hard to swallow as only moments earlier it seemed as if the Knights might get over themselves.

Heaney fielded an overthrown lineout in midfield and fed Aaron Carpenter who drove into the Carnegie midfield. Possession went wide and Charlie Foley pinned his ears back for the corner but the final pass to him was judged forward.

From the resulting scrum Carnegie were awarded a penalty which Irvine punted deep into touch. A decent driving maul was dropped and it looked as if play would be brought in field but at the last moment scrum half Homer switched play blind and fed lock Jack Whetton who barged his way over. Homer then produced a fine, touchline conversion and the Knights trailed by six.

With just under twenty minutes to go Donny emptied the bench as they looked to chase the game but Carnegie continued to threaten and had a chance to extend their lead with another penalty but Homer mishit his strike.

It was not until the closing stages that the Knights began to really threaten Carnegie territory which set up an enthralling finish to the tie.

The final five minutes seemed to be played exclusively in the home 22m with the Knights winning a series of penalties but time and time again the Leeds side held on.

From a tap penalty in front of the Yorkshire posts the Donny pack set up a driving maul. The rumble was dropped illegally and in the following phase it seemed as if Joe Sproston might have forced his way over but the prop was held up in goal. Play was brought back for the penalty and Elliot Millar-Mills was sin-binned for side entry.

Cusack went to the corner once more, the Knights played off the top and an elongated series of carries followed. Eventually it looked like space might have opened up on the left hand side as Michael Hills fed Sproston. The front rower powered his way over the line and looked for all the world to have got the score. Referee MacDonald called upon his assistant and, after what seemed an eternity, the decision was given as no try to bring the game to an end.

A bitter pill to swallow for the Knights who must now dust themselves off ahead of a third all northern Championship tie in a row against Nottingham at Castle Park next Saturday.

Match Statistics

Carnegie XV; 15. Chris Elder, 14. George Watkins, 13. Andy Forsyth, 12. Pete Lucock, 11. Harry Davies, 10. Callum Irvine, 9. Max Green (Will Homer 53’), 1. Marc Thomas (Lee Imiolek 63’), 2. Joe Buckle (Mike Mayhew 53’), 3. Charlie Beech (Elliot Millar-Mills 30’), 4. Jack Whetton, 5. Matt Smith, 6. Josh Bainbridge, 7. Richard Mayhew (C) (Richard Beck 38’), 8. Ollie Stedman

Replacements; 16. Mike Mayhew, 17. Lee Imiolek, 18. Elliot Millar-Mills, 19. Mike Myerscough, 20. Richard Beck, 21. Will Homer, 22. Callum Irvine.

Tries; Stedman 55’, Whetton 62’

Conv; Homer 63’

Pens; Irvine 38’

Knights XV; 15) Charlie Foley, 14) Junior Bulumakau, 13) Andy Bulumakau, 12) Will Owen, 11) Tyson Lewis, 10) Simon Humberstone (Declan Cusack 69’), 9) Michael Heaney (Tom James 69’), 1) Richard List (Jack Bergmanas 62’), 2) Ben Hunter (David Nelson 60’), 3) Colin Quigley (Joe Sproston 62’), 4) Matt Challinor (Morgan Eames 60’), 5) Tom Hicks, 6) Alex Shaw, 7) Michael Hills (C), 8) Aaron Carpenter (Jason Hill 62’)

Replacements; 16) David Nelson, 17) Jack Bergmanas, 18) Joe Sproston, 19) Morgan Eames, 20) Jason Hill, 21) Tom James, 22) Declan Cusack.

Tries;

Conv;

Pens; Humberstone 20, 22’, 44’