Talking Sport Now & Then: Doncaster Toll Bar hit Challenge Cup trail

The Yorkshire League club were beaten at home by the RAF 36-24 on their Challenge Cup debut at the same stage last season but head coach Ian Tattersall is hopeful that they can clear the first round hurdle this time.

With a home tie awaiting the winners in the second round there is no lack of incentive for the Doncaster side, although National League Premier Division giants West Hull will fancy their chances against whichever team gets through this weekend.

As was the case last season, the tie will represent the first competitive game for both clubs since the end of their respective 2023 campaigns with preparations not helped by the unusually wet weather.

One of the most respected coaches in the amateur game, Tattersall has boosted his backroom staff with former Dons’ skipper Craig Lawton, who came through the junior ranks at the club, one of two new additions.

The club, who celebrated the 30th anniversary of the opening of their clubhouse by legendary Great Britain international Roger Millward - who I played with and against at schoolboy/U17s level many years ago - at the Eco-Power Stadium in December, are looking to pull in another bumper crowd.

*Doncaster RLFC, who enter the Challenge Cup at the third round stage, will have their first outing of the season on Sunday, January 21 when entertaining Super League side Hull FC in a friendly.

Dons head coach Richard Horne - a Black & Whites legend - will be hoping to see his new-look side give the visitors a much tougher game than has been the case at times in the last few years.

Horne has been given the resources to build a squad which, on paper at least, looks capable of challenging for a mid-table spot in a league which has seen standards rise significantly in recent years.

But Horne and CEO Carl Hall know only too well that bringing in good players doesn’t always guarantee success – something with which Hull FC boss Tony Smith will no doubt concur following the disappointments of last season.

What the pair have done successfully in recent years has been to bring in players who not only improve the squad but also fit into the culture at the club. Having travelled on the team coach on a number of occasions last season, I saw first-hand how well the players got on. That said, Horne and Hall know that it always easier to generate a good team spirit when the players are picking up winning pay on a regular basis and that may not prove to be the case as much in 2024.

*Doncaster Knights are back in action at their Castle Park base on Saturday for the first time since late November and they’ll be looking to climb back into the top two with back-to-back home games against Ampthill and Bedford Blues.

Knights,who dropped to third in the closing days of last year after suffering a surprise defeat at lowly Caldy, will resume their 2023-24 campaign two points adrift of leaders Coventry, who have played a game more, and one behind Ealing, who have played a game less.

But it is by no means a three-horse race with Bedford, Nottingham and Cornish Pirates all in the frame.

As well as Bedford, in what is traditionally one of the most entertaining games of the season and one I am hoping to get to, Knights also play host to Coventry, Ealing and Pirates.

The results of those games and the ones at Ealing, Bedford and Nottingham are likely to determine Knights’ fate.

I think the ideas being put forward by the RFU concerning the two top divisions have some merit, though not everyone currently playing in the Championship will be able to meet the proposed criteria and those that can will still need to see massive improvements in central funding.

When I used to cover the Knights prior to the pandemic, Championship clubs were getting around £600,000 in central funding – almost four times the current figure.

Given those figures it is hardly surprising that there are more part-time clubs operating in the Championship than used to be the case during Clive Griffiths’ spell in charge of the Knights.

*I wouldn’t be surprised to see a big boost in the number of people taking up darts in the city in the coming weeks.

The recent PDC World Championships has generated interest in the sport like no other that I can recall.

The big talking point in the media in the early rounds was more about the fact that Luke Littler looked considerably older than 16 but very quickly it was the quality of his darts which became the topic of conversation.

In the end he fell just short of becoming the youngest-ever winner of the title but he will surely go on to rewrite the record books over the next few years if he continues to play like he’s done over recent months.

Luke Humphries proved a worthy winner on the night in what was a classic final. What impressed me about both players, and it is something that I always like to see in top sportsmen and women, was their modesty and genuine respect for each other. I’m sure that both players will be ideal ambassadors for the sport going forward and I look forward to seeing what they can do in the forthcoming Premier League.