REPORT | York 27 Dons 0

Doncaster RLFC were unable to get the better of York Knights again as they suffered a 27-0 defeat at the LNER Community Stadium.

The Dons had the upper hand on the opening day of the Betfred Championship beating York 36-20 at the Eco-Power Stadium, however it was the Knights that came away with two points in Sunday's reverse fixture beating Doncaster 27-0. 

The opening 10 minutes was a good arm-wrestle with both sides going set for set. That was until the hosts opened the scoring with Sam Cook throwing a dummy and diving over. Will Dagger adding the extras. 

A high kick into the clouds after quarter of an hour was caught well by Josh Guzdek but the referee appeared to see something off the ball, handing the hosts a penalty kick that was dispatched by Dagger. 

With the contest at 8-0 the ever present groans from the rugby league stands of “offside” and “forward” were answered by the referee in favour of York. The visitors defence however managing to hold off the multiple sets York threw at them. 

After 20 minutes the Dons had threatened the York defensive line a couple of times and looked to be building some momentum but without any reward. 

On the half-hour mark Connor Robinson chased down the York full-back and left him on his back behind his own line, the referee opting to send Robinson to the sin bin for 10 minutes for a high tackle leaving Doncaster down to 12. 

Three minutes from the break the hosts went over again after being handed an additional set for a tackle off the ball. They punished the visitors through Joe Brown in the corner but Dagger hitting the post kept it at 12-0. 

The first half was one of those without much between the sides, York just taking advantage of their opportunities. 

The second period kicked off in more ways than one, York knocked the ball out of Luke Briscoe's hands only for Brad Hey to then be forced to make a superb tackle dislodging the ball from the York players' grip. Where the opening minutes of the first half was set for set, it had gone to error for error. 

After a frantic couple of sets back and forth it was the home side that were in again, a neat short kick chased and finished by Oli Field leaving Dagger to add to the scoreboard. 

As the game neared an hour played, York repeatedly kept trying the Doncaster right edge but Briscoe closed the door on each occasion with two last ditch tackles to avoid any further damage to the scoreline. 

The referee was in action again just after the hour, awarding York a penalty kick after what he deemed to be another high tackle, Dagger making it 20-0.

Doncaster continued to throw themselves into tackles and try to find something by way of attack but it was not their day.

Five minutes from time one error followed another, York gifting the ball to Reece Lyne only for a few passes later to be given it back and a dash through the middle saw the home side over again with the extras added. 

Just before the referee called time on the game Dagger stuck a kick over from open play to finish things up at 27-0.