REPORT | Swinton Lions 0 Dons 56

The Dons powered to victory on the road in the Betfred Championship as they beat Swinton Lions at Heywood Road.

Richard Horne's side were comfortable inside the first half and deservedly led at half time thanks to four tries courtesy of Bureta Faraimo, James Glover, Watson Boas and Luis Johnson.

The Dons kicked on after the restart, and another two Glover tries as well as further efforts from Muizz Mustapha, Boas, Suaia Matagi and Faraimo saw the visitors to a commanding win in Greater Manchester.
Horne made one change to the side that lost out at London Broncos eight days earlier, with Brad Knowles handed a spot inside the starting XIII.
The Dons raced out of the traps and took the lead after just three minutes. On the last tackle of just their second set of six of the game, the visitors went all the way to the right and found Faraimo, who neatly dived in at the corner. Robinson added the extras.
Five minutes later, Horne's men were in again to further their early lead to ten points. This time the Dons went to the left, and Glover took on the football to slot through the line and go over with ease.
Swinton looked to be coming into the game towards the quarter of an hour mark, but the Dons line held strong and showed superb defence to force the hosts out on the left wing after seeing off a short goal-line drop-out.
On 18 minutes, both Luis Johnson and then Watson Boas looked to be going close on the right-hand side, but the ball was knocked on just short of the line.
It took until the 26th minute for the next try of the match, and it again went the way of the Dons. The away side opted to go to the right again this time from the centre, and Cory Aston found Boas to step over the line without too much of a contest. Robinson converted. 0-16.
Pat Ah Van went close to marking a first half score on the breakaway for Swinton after 36 minutes, but he was halted just short of the Dons line after a brilliant recovery run in defence.
Horne's men capitalised on that missed opportunity for the home side and furthered their advantage in the final minute before the interval. After intercepting close to their own line, the Dons countered up the right wing and then through the middle before moving back out towards the right, where Johnson managed to hold off his man to ground. Robinson added the extras again. The away side held a 22-point advantage after the opening 40 minutes of the game.
The Dons came out strong again at the start of the second half, as has become the norm in the 2026 season, and scored again for their first try of the second 40 on 47 minutes. After the Lions' Louie Roberts gave the ball away cheaply after what looked like a fine breakaway, Horne's men produced one of their own, and Mustapha finished it off after racing away at the other end of the pitch. Robinson converted again.
After 54 minutes, the away side were in again. A kick out to the left wing was palmed backwards by Luke Briscoe, and Glover was on hand to pounce on it and score in the corner for his personal brace. Robinson added the extras again. 0-34.
Six minutes on, Glover had his hat-trick. After picking up the ball to the left of centre, the Dons number 23 produced a dancing move around and through the Swinton defence before eventually grounding directly behind the posts. Robinson converted again to bring up 40 points for his side on the afternoon.
On 70 minutes, Watson Boas had a personal brace for himself. The Dons moved play all the way from the left to the right and found the number 24, who drifted his way over the line and then glided back inside to score. Robinson added the extras again.
The Lions thought that they had finally marked the scoresheet and troubled the scoreboard operator after 73 minutes, but the referee ruled the ball to have not been grounded and didn't award the try.
The Dons weren't done with the try-scoring act and scored again in the 79th minute. Matagi picked up in the centre and raced through a gap to score to the left of the uprights. Robinson converted again. 0-52.
And there was still time for one more try in the final minute of the 80. Faraimo sprinted away up the right wing and scored right in the corner for the final try and points score of the day.
Interchange Isaac Misky was shown a red card and sent off in the final seconds and moments of the game, but all the meaningful damage was done, and the Dons took a thoroughly deserved win and two points back to South Yorkshire.
Dons: Holmes, Faraimo, Boas, Glover, Briscoe, Aston, Robinson, Knowles, Burns, Matagi, J. Jones, Johnson, Mustapha. Interchanges: Smeaton, McConnell, Misky, Whitehead.