REPORT | Dons 16 Halifax 17

Doncaster RLFC had their hearts broken in the last minute on Sunday afternoon, as the Dons lost 16-17 to Halifax Panthers on Sunday in the Dons' penultimate 2024 Betfred Championship home game at the Eco-Power Stadium.

Although it was the Dons who dominated the opening stages, it was Fax who opened the scoring in South Yorkshire. Joe Keyes' cross-field kick found Ed Barber, who was on hand to find Charlie Graham on the wing, who managed to fend off Watson Boas to score in the corner. 

In all fairness, it was a scrappy response by the home side after conceding. Persistent penalties resulted in Brad Knowles being sent to the sin bin, putting Richard Horne's men under the cosh for 10 minitues with a numerical disadvantage. 

However, the Dons did extremely well not to concede while Knowles was in the bin, showing grit and determination to keep Fax out after relentless pressure from the Panthers. In the first half, the contest was more a battle of attrition rather than free-flowing rugby. The majority of the territory battle was in the middle of the park, as both the Dons and Panthers found it tough to create an attacking spark and post points. 

Fax would post even more points before the break. It was identical to their first, but this time it was previous scorer Graham who batted it back to Ed Barber, who crossed over for the seventh time in 2024. French halfback Louis Jouffret converted 1/2, meaning the Panthers went into the sheds 10-0 up. 

Needing a response after the break, the Dons were still finding it tough to keep possession and build pressure through their attacking sets. Defensively, they held Fax well, but with ball in hand started to struggle to find holes in the Panthers' line. Needing an individual to spark the Dons, Burta Faraimo stood up, bursting through to race 60m downfield as the home side started to build their attack. A few plays later, Connor Robinson found Pauli Pauli out wide, and the big man was on hand to swat a Fax man out of the way and coast over to give us our first points of the afternoon. Robinson nailed the kick, as the Dons trailed by four, but finally had a breakthrough. 

Fax thought they'd hit straight back when Connor Davies battered his way over the line, but some heroic Dons defending forced a knock-on and let Horne's men off the hook. Some dubious calls would go against the Dons on the hour mark, including a high tackle from Reece Lyne which could have gone either way. Still, Fax made their advantage count, as ex-Hull KR man and current Fax captain Joe Keyes dummied his way over from close range. 

Showing the never-say-die attitude as they have done for most of 2024, the Dons would pile the pressure on in the final stages. Connor Robinson's kick was caught by Luke Briscoe, who found Reece Lyne inside as the England international centre crashed his way over as the nerves started spreading around the Eco-Power with less than 10 minitues to play. 

Seconds later, the Dons would level the score. Robinson was again the provider, but Briscoe this time didn't need to pass inside, as the winger crawled his way over the line in a frantic set of players. CR7 couldn't convert and it was 16-16 with seven on the clock. 

After such a spirited comeback, an error on halfway in the final moments allowed Fax fullback James Woodburn-Hall to slot over a drop goal 20m out to break the Dons' hearts and steal the two points. Resilient to the end, but it was the Panthers who took the win back to West Yorkshire. 

Up next is the short trip to West Yorkshire as the Dons face Batley Bulldogs on Sunday, 8th September (3:00 pm). 

Doncaster RLFC

Craig Hall, Luke Briscoe, Reece Lyne, Brad Hey, Bureta Faraimo, Watson Boas, Connor Robinson, Brad Knowles, Greg Burns, Suaia Matagi, Sam Smeaton, Pauli Pauli, Loui McConnell

Bench: Alex Sutcliffe, Joe Lovodua, AJ Wallace, Lewis Baxter

Tries: Pauli, Lyne, Briscoe

Conversions: Robinson 2/3

Halifax Panthers

James Woodburn-Hall, James Saltonstall, Gareth Widdop, Edward Barber, Charlie Graham, Luis Jouffret, Joe Keyes, Kevin Larroyer, Adam O'Brien, Clement Boyer, Ben Kavanagh, Connor Davies, Jacob Fairbank

Bench: Adam Tangata, Matty Gee, Corey Johnson, Joe Hird

Tries: Graham, Barber, Keyes

Conversions: Jouffret (2/3)

Drop Goal: Woodburn-Hall