PREVIEW | Dons v Midlands Hurricanes

The Dons will look to keep momentum going against Midlands Hurricanes at the Club Doncaster Sports Village on Sunday 16 August (3pm KO).

After Midlands edged to a 26-24 win when the teams last met in February, Richard Horne’s side will be hoping to be on the right side of the result this time around.

The opposition currently sit in eighth and will now hope to solidify themselves in the play-off positions as the regular season comes to a close. Last time out, they battled to a 30-24 victory over Workington.

Meanwhile, Dons built on their record-breaking win against North Wales Crusaders by securing a dramatic 26-25 victory over Barrow Raiders, with Connor Robinson’s late penalty sealing the two points. The result saw the team achieve their seventh triumph in the last eight games.

Speaking about the Barrow result, Horne said:

“With the amount of defending we had to do, to still come away with the victory is fantastic and credit to them.

“We said at half-time, ‘it might take until the last play of the game to get the win’ because it was always going to be tight.

“So, I am really pleased we were able to seal the points.”

On the upcoming test and the season beyond, he added: “Midlands are one of the teams that have come up, strengthened and are now challenging for the play-off spots.

“It is one of those games where if we don’t bring our best, the result will not go our way, so we know we need to prepare properly.

“We are aware we need to win our last few games at the back end of the season to get into that top four and, as it stands, we are still on course to do it.”

Tom Holmes was one of the players that returned to the side for the Barrow game.

On the victory, he said: “It is always a tough game when you go there, and we knew it would come down to the last few minutes.

“But we were happy with that. How we won did not matter - it was just about getting the result.

“There was a lot going on around our team this week, which could have given us a lot of excuses if we came away with a loss, but it shows what we are about. I think it is probably our best win of the season.”

Speaking about aspirations and learning from the Barrow result, Holmes said: “Top four is where we want to be.

“We have got the team to do it, so we just need to turn up each week.

“Going down to the last minute might happen in the play-offs, so if we can get used to that as a team, it will put us in good stead.”