REPORT | Dons 56 Barrow Raiders 12

The Dons secured an emphatic 56-12 win in their Betfred Championship Sudden Death Play-Off against Barrow Raiders to set up a Preliminary Final tie with Newcastle Thunder.

Tries from Jacob Jones, Connor Robinson, Tom Whitehead and two from Edene Gebbie in the first half gave Richard Horne’s side a 30-0 lead, before two from James Glover and Muizz Mustapha and one from Suaia Matagi sealed the victory in the second.

Horne made two changes to the team at London Broncos last time out, with Glover and Mustapha coming into the starting XIII.

Within four minutes, Dons had the advantage. A fantastic kick from Cory Aston eventually found Gebbie, who was able to ground on the right. Robinson converted to keep his world record streak going.

The visitors thought they had responded with a try of their own 10 minutes in, but it was disallowed for obstruction in the build up.

Instead, Dons extended their advantage 120 seconds later. Reece Lyne found Jones, who raced through to score. Robinson made no mistake with the conversion.

Soon after, Glover almost marked his return to the side with a try, but he was intercepted brilliantly on the line.

On 32 minutes, Dons did have a third try. Aston fed the ball to Robinson, who managed to roll his opposite man and score. His following conversion was successful to make it 18-0.

Just before the break, Whitehead added another. After receiving the ball, he was able to find a gap and ground.

However, Dons were not done there. Gebbie received the ball on the right and grounded beyond the 40-minute mark. Robinson’s conversion ended the half, leaving the score at 30-0.

Seven minutes after the restart, Glover marked his return to the side with a try. He grounded on the left-hand side, before Robinson’s conversion went wide, bringing an end to his brilliant streak of 58 consecutive kicks.

Moments later, Dons extended the advantage. Glover found space on the left again to score his second try in two minutes. Robinson couldn’t convert.

53 minutes in, Luis Johnson thought he had a try, but there was a forward pass in the build up.

However, two minutes later, Dons did have another. This time, Matagi went under the posts, with Robinson converting to make it 44-0.

Barrow finally responded with six points of their own on the hour mark. Ryan King broke through the middle to ground, before Ryan Johnston successfully converted.

With 10 minutes to go, Mustapha added another try for Dons. A team move ended with him charging through and grounding on the right. Robinson added the extras.

The visitors found another try back with five minutes left on the clock. Ellis Robson grounded on the right, with Johnston converting.

In the last move of the game, Dons put the icing on the cake when Mustapha went under the posts to score. Lyne stepped up to take the conversion and was successful, leaving the final score at 56-12.

Dons: Holmes, Gebbie, Lyne, Boas, Glover, Aston, Robinson, Knowles, C. Jones, Mustapha, Sutcliffe, Johnson, J. Jones. Interchanges: Burns, Matagi, Hepi, Whitehead.