Nottingham 15 Doncaster Knights 0: Knights nilled in Championship Cup quarter-final

It was a disappointing night for Knights - particularly second-rower Morgan Eames who was celebrating his 50th appearance against his former club - as they failed to build on their impressive win over Jersey last time out on a ground where they had won on three of their last five visits.

Forced to make numerous changes to that side, Knights rarely threatened to score a try as they were nilled for the third time this season on the road.

Knights got off to a lively start but both teams struggled to cope with the conditions and scoring chances were few and far between in the first 40 minutes.

The only points of the first half, during which Knights defended well, came from the boot of Nottingham fly-half Shane O’Leary on the half-hour.

With the wind at their backs in the second half, Knights fancied their chances but their hopes suffered an early blow as centre Wilf Simonds scored his first try for the home side within 90 seconds of the restart after spotting a gap 25 metres out.

Knights’ hopes of getting back into contention weren’t helped when Steve McColl, who had replaced injured wing Curtis Wilson, was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on on 53 minutes.

The home side effectively put the result beyond doubt when flanker Will Owen broke away down the left from a lineout.

Charlie Foley briefly raised hopes of a Doncaster try early in the final quarter after he kicked the ball from a wayward lineout in the Nottingham 22 into the in-goal area only to be beaten to it by a defender.

That proved to be their last chance of mounting a comeback and the home side dominated the rest of the game as Knights rung the changes with an eye on Saturday’s game at Bedford.

Knights: Cowell, Wilson, Roberts, Hayes, Lewis, Foley, James; Thomas, Holling, Foster, Challinor, Eames, Lokotui, Conradie, Calladine. Rep: Edgson, Quigley, Suter, Birch, Hills, Cullen, Olver, McColl.