Doncaster RLFC: Richard Horne in philosophical mood following York defeat

Reflecting on the 16-14 Championship defeat against York City Knights at the Keepmoat Stadium which cost the Dons top spot in Betfred League One, Horne said: “It could have gone either way.

“It was a war of attrition at times and we knew it was going to be like that. Both teams are where they are because the players work hard for each other.

“I thought we gave ourselves too much to do defensively in the first half and it probably caught up with us in the second.

“It’s something we’ve spoken about because we’ve not been great in the first half and teams have been dominating territory and possession.

“So I was happy to go in only 8-6 down at the interval because if they had executed better we could have been further behind.

“I said to the players at half time that we won’t get many scoring opportunities and when we do get any we’ve got to take them.

“We started the second half strongly but all we had to show for it was a penalty.

“I thought that we created the better chances and I felt that (wing) Jack Sanderson had two chances he probably should have taken after we had opened them up really well.

“We had other chances when we probably took the wrong option and had we shown more patience on occasions we might have done better.

“Obviously everyone was disappointed to lose our first game.

“But if we continue to work hard for each other in defence and make better use of our chances we’ll not lose many games this season.”