Doncaster RLFC seal emphatic, 14-try win over Salford

Beaten by Salford in nine of their last ten league and cup games – including a 60-0 drubbing in their last meeting in the 2008 Northern Rail Cup final at Bloomfield Road – the Dons ran in 14 tries as they climbed to fourth in the table on points difference.

Admittedly the current Salford side – mainly comprised of loan players – are but a pale shadow of that side which finished fourth in Super League a couple of years ago, but that shouldn’t detract from an impressive Doncaster performance as they turned on the style.

Taking advantage of the best surface they have played on this season, the Dons gave fans a taste of what is to come once grounds harden up with a display of pace and power and no little skill.

The Dons wasted no time in stamping their authority on a game they were expected to win easily and scored a point a minute in the first quarter to effectively decide the contest.

Scrum-half Connor Robinson, who also converted eleven of the tries despite many of them being scored wide out to finish with a points total of 26 points opened the scoring on three minutes.

Centre James Glover, who continues to impress, skipper Cory Aston – the best of the bunch – and winger Edene Gebbie also touched down as the Dons opened up a 20-0 lead.

Gebbie looks to be getting close to last season’s form - and is likely to get even better as the weather improves - bagged another couple of tries to complete a first-half hat-trick.

Fellow winger Luke Briscoe touched down from a pin-point kick to the corner by full-back Tom Holmes and he also set up a try for the second game in succession for second-rower Luis Johnson.

The speedy Holmes notched a well-taken brace in the opening minutes of the second half prior to Salford bagging the first of their two consolation tries, with Australian hooker Connor Jones again showing he knows the way to the line.

Aston grabbed a second following a clever kick by Robinson with both Gebbie and Muizz Mustapha finishing in style in the last ten minutes.

The game marked the first outing of the season for loose-forward Loui McConnell following a lengthy lay-off with a disc problem.

“It was good to get out there and get some minutes under my belt and I felt okay in terms of fitness,” he said. “I thought it was a good team performance and hopefully we can build on that against Goole this weekend.”

Match facts

Performance: 8/10

Entertainment: 8/10

Dons: Holmes, Briscoe, Hey, Glover, Gebbie, Robinson, Aston, Matagi, Burns, Mustapha, Sutcliffe, Johnson, McConnell. Subs: Baldwinson, Connor Jones, Hepi, Vulijapani.