Doncaster RLFC: Richard Horne reacts to Newcastle Thunder defeat

Workington Town’s home defeat against Oldham on Sunday saw the Dons regain sixth place on points difference.

There was more good news for the Dons with leaders Whitehaven suffering a shock home defeat against North Wales – a result which kept their outside title hopes alive.

Fearing that the Cumbrians would extend their lead over his side to seven points, Horne said post-match on Saturday: “The top spot is probably out of our reach now.”

Looking back on the Newcastle game, Horne said: “It could have gone either way at the end but they probably deserved to win.

“I thought we were poor in the first half. We couldn’t generate any ruck tempo whereas they were constantly on the front foot.

 “We had minimal sets in their half and even then we often came up with errors and didn’t really challenge them down that end.

“Having said that, we could have come in 12-all at half time. I thought Menzie got the ball down before one of their kids got a boot to it.

“I thought that we did well to get back into the game in the second half and we came out and gave a performance. If we’d have been a little bit smarter we could have had a couple more tries.”

All three tries were scored by winger Sam Doherty.

“Sam put an early mistake behind him and kicked on and he keeps putting in solid performances,” said Horne.

The game saw the debut of trialist Guy Armitage.

“I thought he went well,” said Horne. “He’s a union boy with a good pedigree who is still getting used to the game but I thought he was safe.”