REPORT | Dons 22 Batley Bulldogs 10

The Dons returned to the Club Doncaster Sports Village for the first time in two months with a four-try win over Batley Bulldogs in the Betfred Championship.

Richard Horne's side initially went behind upon their return to DN4, but two Tom Holmes tries either side of another successful effort from Bureta Faraimo saw the hosts go into the interval ahead.

The second half saw less threatening action towards the try lines at either end of the pitch, but another try added by Edene Gebbie in the late minutes of the game ensured back-to-back victories in the second-tier for the Dons.
Horne made three changes to the side that emphatically saw off and beat Swinton Lions away at Heywood Road five days earlier, with Edene Gebbie, Mitieli Vulikijapani and Alex Sutcliffe all introduced and handed spots inside the starting XIII.
The visitors got off to a flying start and immediately took the lead. After Oliver Greensmith initially broke the Dons line and raced up field, play was brought inside and then back out wide again to find the Batley number three, who stepped over the line uncontested on the wing. Ben Reynolds couldn't add the extras to leave the scores 0-4 after three minutes.
The Bulldogs looked to have made the better of the starts between the two teams and almost trouble the home line again on eight minutes, but the hosts managed to recover in time to force and drag their opposition into touch on the left.
The Dons responded seven minutes later. After finding their way and up field, Horne's men kicked deep to the right, where Mitieli Vulikijapani knocked backwards for Holmes to take on and squeeze in at the corner. Robinson added the extras.
The hosts were in front and set out to kick on straight away. The Dons raced forward after 19 minutes and shifted the ball out to the right again, where Faraimo slid in to score on the wing. 10-4.
On 31 minutes, the Dons were in again. After being held up and going close to the right, Horne's men shifted play over towards the left-hand side, where Brad Knowles broke through and free before handing to Holmes, who made it a personal brace for himself with ease after stepping over the line and then coming back towards the centre. Robinson converted.
After finding their feet and seemingly gaining the attacking momentum, the home side looked to build upon their first half lead towards the break, but the two sides cancelled each other out towards the half time hooter to leave a scoreline of 16-4 after the opening 40 minutes of play.
As was the case in the first half, Batley were the first team to mark the scoresheet after the restart. Robbie Butterworth found enough space to the right to be able to hold off his Dons man and outstretch his arm over the try line after 50 minutes. Reynolds converted. The Bulldogs were back within six points of the home side again.
The next quarter of an hour saw little at either end of the pitch by way of try-scoring opportunity, as a battle and an arm wrestle for superiority over good ball possession took centre stage underneath the floodlights.
Batley looked certain to make further inroads on the Dons' advantage on the scoreline on 68 minutes as interchange Mitchell Beedle raced into open space and ground, but a last-ditched tackle stopped the number 28 in his tracks just short of the line.
The Dons made the Bulldogs pay for that missed opportunity and found breathing space with their fourth try of the evening with six minutes of the 80 left to play. Horne's men moved play over to the left, and Gebbie spotted a gap to slot through and bundle his way over the line following a short burst of pace with a diagonal run. Robinson added the extras again. 22-10.
Both teams looked to inflict further damage on the scoreline throughout the remaining time, but all the meaningful damage was already done as the Dons saw out the final few minutes professionally and picked up another two points in the race for the Betfred Championship play-offs.
Dons: Gebbie, Faraimo, Boas, Glover, Vulikijapani, Robinson, Holmes, Knowles, Burns, Matagi, Sutcliffe, Johnson, Mustapha. Interchanges: Smeaton, J. Jones, Pauli, Whitehead.