REPORT | Dons 24 Sheffield Eagles 18

The Dons celebrated their 75th birthday by completing a South Yorkshire derby day double over Sheffield Eagles at the Club Doncaster Sports Village.

Richard Horne's side scored twice in the first half through Muizz Mustapha and Luis Johnson, but two visiting tries saw the side deadlocked at the break.

Johnson completed a personal brace for himself in the second half, and Robinson got himself on the scoresheet with a try that accompanied his four successful conversions to ensure the Dons took the spoils against Sheffield for the fourth consecutive time.
Horne made three changes to the side that started in the professional victory over Midlands Hurricanes at home seven days earlier, with Cory Aston, Brad Knowles and Alex Sutcliffe all handed their spots inside the starting XIII.
The Dons started fast in their search to retain the local rugby league bragging rights and took the lead after six minutes. The hosts shifted play towards the centre from out on the left-hand side, and Mustapha held off a number of Sheffield men to cross by the posts. Robinson added the extras.
But ten minutes later, parity was restored. After a short Eagles goal line drop-out, the visitors raced forward, and a slice of fortune in their favour saw Connor Bower pick up and enable the number 11 to score on the right. Bower added the extras.
Horne's men had much the better of the attacking play over the course of the next quarter of an hour, but the home side didn't add to their point-scoring tally.
The away side then made the Dons' missed opportunities pay and took the lead on 32 minutes. After a botched collection of a high kick in the hosts' defensive line, Kieran Gill took play on and ran away to come inside and score to the left of the uprights. Bower converted. 6-12.
The Dons responded well, though, and levelled the scoreline after 38 minutes. After marauding up the right wing, play opened up for Johnson to make the line and score a celebratory try on what was his 100th senior appearance in rugby league. Robinson converted.
The scoreboard operator remained untroubled for the remainder of the first half, and the scoreline after the opening 40 minutes read 12-12.
Horne's men came out strong again at the start of the second half and went back ahead six minutes after the restart. The short Sheffield goal line drop-out this time fell directly into Dons hands and the hosts moved play over to the right to see Johnson in for his second try of the afternoon. Robinson added the extras again.
The Eagles again came back though at 52 minutes. A kick over the top of the Dons' defensive line saw Greg Eden race into the goal area and collect to ground an score. Bower added the extras again.
The scores were level once more, but only for five more minutes, as the home side found their way in again, for the fourth time of the afternoon. Tom Whitehead powered his way through to come within yards of the try line and then handed off to Robinson, who danced his way in to score directly behind the sticks. Robinson converted again. 24-18.
The next 20 minutes saw a cagey affair play out with errors at both ends of the pitch seeing the scoreline remain as it was.
Sheffield went close on the last tackle with five minutes of the 80 left to play, but a great and thankful tackle kept the visitors out a matter of yards out from the line.
The Eagles finished the game ramping up the pressure with their sights set on a grandstand finish, and they grounded the ball in the goal area during the last minute of the game, but the referee disallowed the try for a knock-on in the buildup that took away any hopes of the visitors taking a point home with them.
The visiting contingent threw everything at the Dons in the remaining time left in the match, but the Dons held firm to take the win with a 24-18 scoreline that secured back-to-back South Yorkshire derby day doubles.
Dons: Gebbie, Briscoe, Lyne, Horne, Faraimo, Aston, Robinson, Knowles, C. Jones, Matagi, Sutcliffe, Johnson, Mustapha. Interchanges: J. Jones, Hepi, Boas, Whitehead.