Talking Sport Now & Then: Doncaster Knights focus on Premiership Cup after disappointing start to season

​Knights are hoping to be in the same league as the Cheshire side next season but for that to happen they have to finish in top spot and then beat the bottom club in the top flight over two legs.

Following some shrewd recruitment hopes were high at the start of the season that they could mount a serious challenge for top spot and turn their top-flight dreams into reality.

Not least because Newcastle Falcons, who didn’t win a league game last season, were again expected to pick up the wooden spoon giving the Championship winners a realistic chance of beating them.

But things have gone badly wrong for Joe Ford’s men after getting off to a winning start and they languish in the bottom half of the table with just two victories to their name from their opening five games.

It looked as though their home defeat against Nottingham in their second game had been a blip following their impressive 36-35 win away to defending champions Ealing.

But they finished empty-handed at home to London Scottish, who started the game below them in the table, the following week and also finished empty handed away to Bedford Blues.

As a result, Knights are 14 points adrift of unbeaten leaders Coventry, and 12 behind Ealing, and although time is on their side they clearly face an uphill battle to get back into contention.

They will certainly have used last week’s blank weekend to work on things on the training field and they’ll be hoping to put the opening three games of the Premiership Cup to good use ahead of their return to league action.

Following the visit of sixth-placed Sharks, Knights travel to Kingston Park to face the Falcons who claimed their first win in 26 games last weekend when beating fellow strugglers Exeter Chiefs.

When the cup draw was made the chance to test themselves against Falcons was welcomed by the Knights given the possibility that the two clubs could meet in the play-offs. The odds of that happening are longer now than they were then.

*The Betfred Championship Grand Final on Saturday evening proved more one-sided than I expected with Wakefield beating Toulouse 36-0 at a packed DIY Stadium.

The game saw Trinity full-back Max Jowett set a new world record for points in a season breaking a record set by Leeds’ stand-off Lewis Jones, who I remember seeing play, back in 1957.

His 36-point haul in the 72-6 win over the Dons in the last league game of the season played a big part in his record-breaking exploits.

I would expect Trinity, who have already signed several world-class stars, to be confirmed a Super League club this week when the latest IMG gradings are announced.

Given the fact that over half-a-dozen players left the club at the end of the recent season, Dons’ fans will be anxiously awaiting news of new signings.

I’m sure the club have already signed a number of the players they were targeting. But, as always, there are likely to be a couple of players of interest who suddenly become available.

A lot of players and staff enjoyed a well-deserved break after what proved to be a testing season but they will be reporting back early next month.

Although the players will have had less than two months to recover from the rigours of last season, they are likely to face six weeks or so of hard work in the gym and on the training field in order to enjoy time off with their families over the festive period.

*Several local sporting clubs are hoping to cash in on their Bonfire Night celebrations on Saturday evening.

Doncaster Lawn Tennis Club, Wheatley Hills Rugby Union Club and Sprotbrough Cricket Club all provide real value for money events and the cash raised goes a long way towards running costs during their respective seasons.

My most memorable Bonfire Night is probably the night I drove back from covering the Plymouth-Rovers Championship game a few years ago. I saw hundreds of fireworks going off and numerous bonfires as I made my way back up the M5 which helped make up for missing the Doncaster LTC one where I used to help out with the stewarding on a number of occasions when a club member.

*I’m sure a lot of readers will have seen the new Specsavers adverts on TV. Some of the people I play golf with suggested I should go there after a recent incident whilst playing at Thornhurst.

A man in a buggy who was several holes in front of our game drove up to us and asked if we’d come across a seven iron he’d lost.

Straight away I yelled out, “It’s over there!” after spotting something lying the other side of a raised bunker which had caught the sun and was shining.

Unfortunately, when several of the other players went to take a look they discovered it was a rake which proved a bit embarrassing.

One of our group on the last hole, shouted: “I’ve found that seven iron, Steve,” before lifting up a rake. I suspect that won’t be the last time that joke will be played on me before I pack away my clubs for the winter.