Doncaster blow away Midlands Hurricanes to reclaim second spot

Only two points separated the two sides at the end of an evenly-contested first half, the visitors leading 18-16, but the Dons dominated the second 40 minutes as they ran out 54-26 winners.

It was their eighth win in nine starts and saw them reclaim second spot from Oldham, who had climbed above them 24 hours earlier after beating top-four rivals Hunslet, at the midway point of the season.

Unlike recent games which has seen the backs score the majority of the tries, the forwards were responsible for seven of the nine touchdowns in what was a dominant forward display by the Dons.

Ball-playing prop Luke Cooper led the way with a hat-trick and there was a double for Dean Roberts.

Scrum-half Connor Robinson, who finished with a total of 22 points after kicking nine goals and scoring a try, shared the two touchdowns claimed by the backs with stand-off Ben Johnston, who also featured in the build-up to several of the other tries.

Greg Burns started at hooker as a result of recent signing Josh Veacock having returned to Australia for personal reasons.

The Dons entertain improving Rochdale Hornets on Sunday in their last home game until they entertain the Hurricanes in the return fixture on July 23.

The Dons will be seeking to complete the double over Gary Thornton’s men following their win at the Crown Oil Arena back in early March.