Doncaster battle to edge out Leeds

First-half tries from triallist Stephen Sostello, Alex Rieder and Thomas Barrett put Leeds eight points ahead at the break but the Knights kept in touch with scores from Andy Boyde and Michael Noone.

Despite holding sway in the opening 20 minutes of the second half all the Knights could muster was a penalty from Mike Whitehead.

But after Leeds lost Richard Rhodes and Mark Tampin to the sin bin in the final 10 minutes of the game, the Knights made their second-half dominance pay after being awarded a penalty try with just a minute left on the clock.

Whitehead converted to seal the win for his side.

Rotherham Titans suffered their second defeat in the competition as they fell 22-17 at home to Nottingham yesterday afternoon.

They trailed 19-3 on the hour mark following a try by Jethro Rawling and 14 points from the boot of James Stokes.

But Andre Bester’s men rallied with tries from Barney Maddison and 37-year-old forwards coach Ben Wade, both of which were converted by Dave Marshall, who had earlier kicked a first-half penalty for Rotherham.

Despite being only two points adrift the hosts could not edge ahead and Stokes kicked his fifth penalty in the final moments to seal the win for Nottingham.