Doncaster RLFC suffer last gasp defeat to Halifax Panthers

The Dons had produced one of their worst displays of the season when going down 34-8 at The Shay in late May despite starting the game as favourites and were keen to put the record straight.

They trailed 16-6 midway through the second half but scored twice in the closing minutes to level the scores, and had scrum-half Connor Robinson not pulled his 78th minute conversion wide of the near post, the likelihood is that they would have banked the two points.

The Panthers rode their luck and worked their way into the Dons’ half following the restart to create the position from which full-back James Woodburn-Hall landed his first drop goal of the season.

Panthers, who went into danger of getting dragged into the relegation battle following back-to-back defeats, were the first to threaten. But fortunately for the Dons, former Great Britain star Gareth Widdup’s looping pass to winger James Saltonstall was ruled forward and his third-minute try didn’t stand.

Both sides looked dangerous with ball in hand, though both made numerous handling errors throughout the game, but it was the visitors who drew first blood on ten minutes.

The normally dependable Luke Briscoe fumbled a cross-field kick to the corner by centre Ed Barber straight into the arms of his opposite number Charlie Graham who touched down for his ninth try of the season.

Despite lacking a cutting edge at times, the Dons went close to opening their account towards the end of the first quarter prior to conceding a penalty which enabled the visitors to clear their line.

They were reduced to 12 men on 20 minutes when former Halifax prop Brad Knowles was sin-binned after being penalised three times in quick succession.

Panthers’ hooker Adam O’Brien was forced back into the field of play after making the line from acting half-back. It needed a try-saving by Watson Boas to deny the strong-running Adam Tangata shortly after.

Saltonstall had a second try disallowed for a forward pass after the visitors created an overlap on their right flank shortly before Knowles returned to the fray.

Halifax increased their lead on 38 minutes when Graham rose above the Doncaster defence to palm a pin-point kick by Louis Jouffret into the arms of Barber, who forced his way over for his seventh try of the season.

Jouffret added the touchline conversion to give his side a 10-0 lead which they defended well in the closing stages as both Knowles and Pauli Pauli threatened – the latter being denied a try by a superb tackle by second-rower Connor Davies.

Briscoe got a hand to a kick by Craig Hall but centre Reece Lyne dropped the ball 20m out in the Dons first attack of note after the break.

A storming run out of defence by winger Bureta Faraimo brought the home crowd to life. It also created the position from which Pauli, who was never going to be stopped, stormed his way over for a 55th minute try which Robinson converted to close the gap to just four points.

A handling mistake by Hall gifted Halifax possession 20m out to set up the attacking position from which Davies would have scored had he not lost the ball over the line. A real let-off for the Dons.

But their luck wasn’t to last and scrum-half Joe Keyes, outstanding in the earlier game and impressive again in the return, finished off a bout of smart handling when dummying his way over for a second converted try to open up a 16-6 lead with less than 15 minutes to go.

Lyne threw his side lifeline when he touched down for a converted try after Briscoe had palmed a high kick into his arms ten metres out.

Dons drew level on 77 minutes when Briscoe scrambled over the line after soaring high to collect a towering kick by Robinson, who will be as disappointed as anyone in the ground that he wasn’t able to kick the resulting conversion.

Dons: Hall, Briscoe, Lyne, Hey, Faraimo, Boas, Robinson, Knowles, Burns, Matagi, Smeaton, Pauli, McConnell. Subs: Sutcliffe, Lovodua, Wallace, Baxter.