Doncaster RLFC: Pete Green reflects on Oldham defeat as Dons prepare for return trip to Newcastle

The Dons, who beat Thunder 20-6 at Kingston Park in their first play-off game, missed out on the chance to book their place in the final on Sunday when going down 22-12 against favourites Oldham at the Vestacare Stadium.

Although the Dons have won on both their visits to Kingston Park, assistant coach Pete Green says they will have to play better than against Oldham.

“We were beaten by a better side on the day,” said Green.

“They had a really good completion rate compared to us and their last-tackle plays were a lot better. A lot of players also had an off-day.

“I still fancied our chances despite coming in 8-6 down because we’d had a couple of chances in the first half in addition to the try and we felt there would be more in the second half.

“We felt that if we could get a fair share of the ball we’d cause them problems. But some of our attacking play in the second half was embarrassing partly due to fatigue from having to do so much defensive work earlier.

“Their forwards did the damage when they beat us 40-14 late in the regular season but I thought we handled them well.

“It was full-back Ritchie Hawkyard and their two half-backs who caused us most problems.

“They played really smart on a narrow pitch which suits their style of play whereas we like to play more of an expansive game.

“But whatever pitch you play on you have to get the basics right and they did that much better than us on the day.”